The slightly peculiar wisdom of a girl in love
by BecauseI'mageek
Summary: Prequel to Miss Fantastic. Lena works in New York, but is recruited to the Avengers by old friend Clint Barton. But what happens when Loki visits New York?
1. Chapter 1

Old friends

A/N Hey everyone! I said it wouldn't be long, didn't I? Anyways, here's the first chapter. Basically this is before Lena joins the Avengers and stuff, so here it is.

Clint catches the subway, fourth carriage from the end of the 7:45 train. It is what he does every morning to get to work( which, by the way, is completely secret, and totally not the massive building in the middle of New York), and catching the train sort of normalises the extreme oddity of his day to day life and job.

As always, he buys his breakfast, a sesame seed bagel and a cup of liquid that could almost be described as coffee at the small stall just last the ticket booth, then hops on the train, sipping from the cup.

He nods awkwardly to the other daily commuters like he does every morning. In his hand he holds his black case containing his bow, which he still takes with him everywhere despite Stark's insistence that he could leave it at the tower. He doesn't carry it in his rucksack either.

Anyone looking for Clint Barton, despite their good or bad intentions, will know what it is, and know to stay away, and that's enough to stop him getting bothered. The black case still earns him strange looks from new passengers, but the regulars are used to the man wearing tight black leather everything, carrying the black case and bagel( the bagel spoils the badass look a bit).

He looks a little out of place, to say the least. More than once he's been stopped by security, noted by anxious passengers. If security are shocked by the bow, then they are even more shocked by his legitimate licence to carry it. The looks on their faces makes Clint smiles even now.

The train rolls slowly away from the platform, and Clint sighs with exasperation just like he does every morning. He knows more than one way he could make this train go faster. The only thing is, he's not exactly sure if they are legal.

Clint looks at the unfamiliar members of the carriage, assessing them like he does every morning.

There's a small pale man hunched over his newspaper, eyes flitting worriedly from headline to headline.

A tall woman, holding the hand of her small child, who looks like nothing could be more exciting than a train.

Clint's looking for any potential threat, like he does every morning, but there never is any.

But this morning, someone catches his eye.

A small woman, around his age, standing at the other end of the compartment. She leans against the yellow pole she's holding, her green eyes staring at the grubby floor. She has a red rucksack slung over one shoulder, and one hand is on the strap. Her long brown hair is tied on the ponytail, but some bits are escaping, falling in wisps over her shoulders.

It's been two years, but she still looks the same. Maybe not as on her toes, but the same.

Clint smiles. He's found her.

A/N What did you think? Please review and let me know!


	2. Chapter 2- Shield

Shield

A/N hi again everyone :-)

Clint tails her slowly through the train station after she gets off, two stops before he needed to. But he's sure Stark won't mind if he's a bit late.

He's surprised that she doesn't notice him( the black leather is quite visible in a sea of colour), and kind of disappointed as well. Clearly, since he left to join the Avengers, she hasn't been practicing or anything. True, he doesn't see how she could really, as she hasn't joined a group or anything as far as he knows. But even so, you never know when you might need super hero skills.

Like now, for instance. If she was paying attention, she would have noticed that Clint isn't the only party following her.

A pair of tall men follow her through the large crowds, tailing her. They have obviously noticed the vacant look in her eyes, as their own eyes are focused on her red backpack.

Clint rolls his eyes. Really? Now? Good thing Lena is aware of this danger, anyway.

The men get closer and closer to his old friend, and Clint quickens his pace, until he is only a few metres between the three people. The men step up, either side of Lena, one bumping into her.

When she turns, the other snatches her backpack, running off.

Lena swears under her breath. Great, why wasn't she paying attention.

One of the men, the one with her backpack, has already dissapered, far ahead, but the other one is in her line of sight.

She breaks into a run, earning dissapering glares from other commuters. The man looks behind him, and his brows furrow. Obviously he hasn't dealt with a muggee that is going to fight back. He then has a superior look in his eyes, as though he believes no skill can match his own. Lena grins to herself. He's going to get a shock. Thankfully, she hasn't forgotten everything Clint taught her.

She turns invisible, deciding a surprise attack is the best option. Also, she's in a crowded train station, so if everyone sees her attacking a supposedly random man, she could end up in a spot of bother.

She also has to make it look like any damage caused to the man,- which hopefully will only be enough to stop him running after her, she doesn't want to truly hurt anyone, -will be accidental, and the fault of no one. Another thing people don't do is get attacked by invisible forces.

Clint sighs as Lena dissaperes from view. Of course, she'll turn invisible. At least she remembers the lesson on stealth. But it does make it incredibly difficult to help.

He can't help but grin when the man appears to trip and fall. Lena perfected the trip so it looks like they tripped themselves look within the first week of training, and it's a bit of a signature move. Clint can always tell, but other people can't.

The man sits up, dazed, confused, as people continue to walk past him, talking on phones and to each other.

Clint looks around to see if Lena has become visible again. It's difficult enough to push through train station crowds when you are visible, let alone invisible,

Yes, over there, a flash of brown hair. He sets off quickly in pursuit, clutching the black case tightly in his right hand. He never knows when he might need it.

By the time he sees the man carrying the rucksack, Lena has almost caught up with him.

The man is almost right in front of her, and Lena is just about to reach for the red strap, her arm length thing slightly( not enough to get noticed but almost enough to get the strap) when she crashes into a 'wet floor' sign, and falls on the slippy tiles. She tries to get back up, but her hands slip out from underneath her, and she struggles more, but just gets more panicked.

Lena lifts her head, to find the man, who must be nearing the exit by now. She sees him turn, grin at her. She sighs, and he runs next to the wall, eliminating one side for anyone to attack from.

She would freeze him, of course, but people would notice if a guy just went into Madame Tussaud mode. And anyway, what's to stop someone else taking her backpack from him? Damn you crowded train stations!

Then the man readjusts the bag on his shoulder, and for a split second there is a gap between the strap and him, as wide as Lena's arm. And through that gap, flies an arrow.

Clint, Lena thinks. Thank you Clint.

The arrow sticks into the wall only centimetres behind him, and the backpack swings from it, preventing the man's escape.

The man goes to unhook it, eyes widening when he sees the arrow, but then he hears a shout.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you." Clint voice echoes across the station, which is suddenly silent and frozen. The people look up at Clint, who is holding a bow and a few arrows. Most eyes are fixed on the sharp points of the arrows.

He makes his way through the crowd, trying to ignore he terrified glances he is getting, doing his best to appear calm and sane.

Stark is going to hate him for this.

He also takes care not to push the button on the side of his bow, which would blow up the arrow he's already shot. He only has a few arrows in his case, and all of them were explosive ones. He doesn't want to blow up a wall of a well trafficked service station. That would certainly get him into trouble.

When he reaches Lena, he holds out his hand to help her up. She doesn't look surprised to see him, and he supposes he shouldn't wonder why. Super heroes nowadays use guns and planes, nobody uses arrows anymore( except him.)

Then Clint also falls afoul of the wet floor, and is one is back, groaning. The bow flies out of his hand, sliding across the floor, stopping at the feet of the man Lena tripped, who is looking at the pair them like Christmas has come early.

He picks up the bow, and Clint feels anger surging through him.

"Let go of that bow!" He gasps for breath, winded by the fall.

The man shakes his head, turning the bow over in his hands. And of course, when he finds the button, he pushes it.

"Oh crap." Clint mutters as he braces himself for the explosion.

Lucky no one was hurt, Clint thinks, as he is lead into police custody. Even the man by the backpack should be okay, once he regains consciousness.

The backpack won't make it though, all that's left of it is a few shreds of red material.

The explosives in the arrow were slightly damp and old, so the explosion thankfully wasn't as big as it would have been two years ago.

The man who pressed the button is probably the worst in condition at the moment, as he is going into shock, poor man. Didn't know what he was doing.

Clint can't help but feel a little relieved that it was someone else that blew up the wall. All the police can charge Clint himself for now is the possession of a bow, which he has licence for, and shooting it at a backpack.

Even so, he is trying to find his phone to call Fury. Isn't anyone as good as bailing you out of police custody like the director of Shield.

Let's just hope this doesn't hit the news before he is bailed, otherwise Stark is going to be on his case for HOURS.

Nick Fury pulls his ringing phone out his pocket, and raises his eyebrows when he sees the caller ID.

"Yes Barton?" He says impatiently. He doesn't like phone calls.

He raises his eyebrows when Clint explains the situation, but smiles when Clint explains something else. "I'll be there in twenty minutes, Barton." He ends the call before Clint can say anything else.

On the drive to the police station, Fury phones a confused Stark, who sounds worried to be called by the director, but soon regains his confident exterior.

Stark laughs when Fury tells him that the reason Clint hasn't turned up at work this morning is because he is in police custody, but then says, "you're serious?" When the director doesn't laugh.


	3. Chapter 3- Ten bucks on the girl

10 bucks on the girl

A/N sorry this has been a bit late :-( exams and all that!

Tony stares at his phone, for once lost for words. It certainly explained why Clint hadn't turned up for work his morning, which he was very mad about, but this made him even more mad.. He was going to give the Avengers their new kit that he had spend FOUR whole months designing and making, and keeping a secret. He was excited about this he almost spilled the beans several times, only just keeping a lid on it.

He pouts to himself. And now Clint had to go and get himself arrested! For blowing up a train station, no less! He knew Clint hated train stations, and trains, but he didn't know he hated them that much.

Tony puts his phone back in his pocket, and walks back through the double doors to where the rest of the team wait, scattered around the large, expansive room.

Bruce looks up when he walks back in, but Natasha is the first to speak.

"Did Fury know what has happened to Clint?" She looks expectantly at Tony.

"Yes,actually, and I'm not too pleased about it." Tony jogs leisurely down the steps into the middle of the room.

"What happened then?" Steve asks, turning from where he is standing by the window. Tony sighs.

"He got himself arrested." The reactions to this are mixed. Natasha sits back and rolls her eyes, as though she would expect nothing less from him. Bruce chuckles, Thor shrugs and Steve frowns.

"What did he do?"

"He blew up a train station." Steve's eyes widen.

"Do we know why?"

"Well, apparently it wasn't him who pushed the button on the bow, but definitely him who shot the arrow in the first place. He obviously has a licence for the bow, so that shouldn't get him in trouble, but frankly I think the police will be so baffled by the fact that he used a bow, rather than, you know, a gun, they will probably just listen to whatever crazy explanation Fury has to offer and let him off. No big deal."

"But it is a big deal!" Steve says, walking over the middle of the room. "What if the press get hold of this, and work out he is an Avenger? Surely then every bad story that has ever been about any of us will be brought into the limelight again?"

Natasha just smiles.

"I don't think you know Nick Fury as well as you think you do." She tells him.

"What does that mean?" Steve creases his forehead up with confusion.

"I means, dear Cap, that Fury has complete control over the press if he wants, and basically means we have nothing to worry about apart from what I am going to say to Clint when he finally gets his sorry behind here."

Bruce laughs again.

When the double doors open, Fury comes in, followed by Clint.

"Sorry guys." Clint says, looking at his scuffed leather shoes.

"Would you like to offer any explanation for blowing up a train station? Not the story you told the police, but the real one?" Tony raises his eyebrows at Clint. "We're not impressed, Barton."

"What he means by that, Clint, is that he is not impressed because you mucked up his carefully timetabled day." Bruce reassures him. Clint laughs slightly.

"Well, I was helping a friend. She was being mugged, and I helped her. I slipped on some water, and the bow slid to the feet of somebody who I certainly would never trust with explosives again. He pressed the button, and blew up a wall of the station. The only thing hurt was a backpack. End of." He shrugs slightly.

"I was managing fine on my own!" A protest comes from a space all of them had previously thought empty. They blink, and suddenly a small girl is standing there, arms folded, frowning at Clint. None of them recognise her.

Clint just rolls his eyes.

"Right, because lying face down on wet tiles watching your backpack being stolen was managing fine?"

She glares at him, then vanishes. A collective shock goes around the room. Steve taps his forehead, and pinches himself to check he's not dreaming. Thor laughs, and nods, impressed.

"Um.. Clint.. Your friend just vanished.." Tony trails off, a bit too shocked to speak.

Clint doesn't look too worried though.

"Yeah. She does that. Lena, it's rude." He stares at the space.

The girl appears again, smiling sheepishly. She lifts her hand slightly.

"Hi. I'm Eleanor."

"Clint believes she would be a suitable Avenger." Fury tells them. Eleanor opens her mouth, then glowers at Clint.

"That's why you helped me? To get me on the team?" Clint rolls his eyes at her words.

"I thought you would have picked the thoughts out of my head already."

"Come on, you know I don't like to read your mind. Their minds though..." She turns her head towards the other Avengers. "Banner, you are wondering if I'm actually a telepath. Yes, yes I am. Rogers is wondering how such a small girl could be an Avenger( Steve goes red), Tony is sulking because he was going to show you guys something, Romanov is wondering why Clint didn't tell her about me, don't worry ,I swore him to secrecy. I don't party surly want to be a super hero. And Thor, well I think you need to find Jane and tell her how you feel."

There's a stunned silence. "Correct me if I'm wrong." Eleanor says slowly. But Tony smiles. He points his finger at her.

"I like you. You, my tiny friend, could be an Avenger." He gestures for her to follow him, and Steve splutters.

"She just read our minds. Is anybody the least bit worried about this?" But his words are ignored. The rest of the avengers, although still reeling from shock, follow Tony and Eleanor out the door towards the training room.

"So, Eleanor, what can you do?"

"Please, call me Lena. Telepath, fire hands, super super flexible, invisibility, force fields." She counts them off on her fingers. Tony nods enthusiastically, grinning as though Christmas has come early.

Thor speaks.

"I would like to fight you, girl of Midgard."

"Then go find Jane?" Lena smiles mischievously.

"Yes, then I will go find Jane." He laughs. Ah, Jane, wonderful Jane.

"Hey, lover boy. Snap out of out."

"No mortal can resist the might of Mjolnir!"

She raises her eyebrows.

"Let's see about that."

Off to the side, Tony speaks in an undertone to Bruce.

"Ten bucks on the girl."

"Deal."


	4. Chapter 4- We've received intelligence

We've received intelligence

A/N Hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed :-) hope you enjoy this chapter!

Fifteen minutes later, Tony counts his new ten dollars happily.

Thor nurses his bruises whilst gathering together his stuff, at the insistence of Lena.

"Go see Jane!" She pokes his shoulder.

"Can't you see I'm packing." He glares down at her. She may be small, but she is fierce.

"Didn't know you read Shakespeare Thor. Why do you need to take anything anyway?" She grins, which earns her another glare.

"It's a long journey to Greenwich!" He's really getting tired of her now.

"You can fly." She folds her arms.

"How do you know that?"

"Telepath!" She trills happily.

"Come on Lena, give him a break." Clint laughs from the coffee machine. Thor sighs in relief. This excitable girl doesn't listen to many people, but Clint is one of them.

He steps towards the window. "Fare well my friends. I will return before dawn on Wodensday!" He swings his hammer, and flies up into the sky.

"That's really cool." Lena says. "I wish I could fly." She has a thought. "How did he get his magic powers?"

"He's a god." Bruce tells her. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, nothing really. Only my actual true mutation, yes, mutation is a thing, is copying other people's mutations so I was like why not but I don't think I can copy the powers of a god..." She shrugs her shoulders, and walks over to grab a coffee from Clint.

Steve pulls his 'I don't understand this weird world face and walks out'. Natasha mouths 'it's fine' to Lena.

Tony sends Bruce a look. A mutant? Hello science lab.

"No." Lena says, before they can even propose anything. "No, you can not have my blood and make it do weird things. I came here to be part of the team, not a lab experiment, thank you." She stares off whilst she says this.

Bruce, being Bruce, blushes with embarrassment, and thinks sorry as loud as he can. She smiles. Tony just frowns and shrugs it off.

Suddenly, Tony's tablet beeps. He pulls it out, and raises his eyebrows.

"Call from Fury, Avengers Assemble!... Over here." He swipes the screen, and the call transfers onto the large hologram projector.

"Avengers..." Fury says, "or most of you anyway. We've recently received intelligence via Lady Sif that Loki is planning to visit Midgard, but she is unsure of his intentions." Fury grimaces when he thinks of New York. "But it is likely that he will try and visit you. Be on your guard."

He terminates the call.


	5. Chapter 5- Loki

Loki

A/N First of all, let me say how truly sorry I am that this took me so long to write, and to post! I'm not going to list all my excuses, because you probably don't want to hear them, so here it chapter five! Thanks for reading and remember, I love reviews :-)

Loki's arrival date was self set, and so on the 29th of October, the Avengers, and their newest recruit, gathered in Stark Tower, awaiting five pm anxiously.

Thor, back from Jane's, walked over to Lena slowly. He could feel the gathering tension in the room, as thick as the treacle in the cupboard. No one knew the origin of this treacle, but it was there.

The origin of the metaphorical treacle, of course, was obvious. The last time most of these heroes had met Loki hadn't given them the best impression of him, as after all they had to fight off his alien army whilst he killed for fun. Thor had assured them that time in Asgard's prisons had had a good effect on Loki, but they were ready to believe this when they saw it.

Thor's shoes squeak on the shiny floor, and he pauses, seeing several heads flick up. As well as stepping on the floor, he's also stepped on tight nerves, willing to snap at any moment.

"Lena." He says quietly. The girl tilts her head slightly to show she's listening. "Loki.. He's does these tricks. Illusions. To make you see things that aren't there." Her brow furrows for a moment, but then she nods. "You will be able to read his mind," Thor continues, "and there is a possibility you might be able to see his true form, or have a good idea of his true form. We are going to hide from him the fact that you are a telepath, and use this to our advantage. If his true form, if you can find it, is far from whatever he is showing us, I want you to send all of us a telepathic warning immediately. It is vital to the safety of this realm."

Lena nods again. She feels as though she should say something, but it feels like there is nothing to say.

The clock strikes five, and Bruce stands up.

"I think I should leave." He proclaims. "Who knows what effect Loki could have on me."

Natasha rolls her eyes and stands up too.

"Bruce! He doesn't have his sceptre anymore, and you've gained more control since then."

Bruce isn't convinced.

"Yeah, I had control last time, and look what happened. I almost killed everyone." He turns away, towards the doors.

Steve now stands up, blocking his way.

" come on, this is stupid. What happened last time isn't going to happen again. We need to stop looking to the past. It's not going to help us now."

Tony laughs.

"Cap, I thought all you did was look to the past? You know, following orders, being good little soldiers." He rolls his eyes. Steve clenches his fists, and walks away from Bruce towards Tony.

"Shut up Stark." He says, real malice in his voice, malice that has not like him, not like Steve. Tony opens his eyes wider, and prepares a nasty retort.

'Stop.' A voice as cold as ice echoes in all of their heads, making them wince slightly. Lena tilts her head slightly towards the door, where a man clad in green and black robes now stands.

They all suddenly feel calmer, and blink a few times, confused. Then they see Loki.

Bruce's face loses its usual hint of a smile, and he frowns. He walks past Loki without a word, and Loki watches him go, a smug grin on his face.

"What, no warm welcome?" Loki holds his arms out, as though expecting a hug. He pouts, pretending to look heart broken. "My old friends. And a new one."

He talks happily again, as though Christmas has come early, seemingly oblivious to the death stares being sent his way by most of the people in the room. He takes a few steps towards Lena.

"And you are?" He smiles warmly. Lena raises her eyebrows and steps back slightly.

"No one of importance." It's Loki's turn to raise his eyebrows.

"Really? I don't believe you. What, with all the nervous glances you are receiving from your friends, when they aren't too busy glaring at me, I would imagine you are quite important. And immune to my anger inducing tricks, I see." He steps backwards, chuffed with himself. "Don't try to deny it."

Lena frowns, and scans his mind. She sees a concentration point in his mind, a point which large amounts of focus are being placed on. This must be he part that controls his illusions.

She sends a quick telepathic message to Thor, who knows him best.

'I've worked out a way to take down his illusions. Should I?'

Thor folds his arms, thinking. To take down Loki's mirage would give them a huge advantage, and he wouldn't be able to trick them. On the other hand, he would probably deduce Lena's power.

He thinks his response as loudly as he can, and Lena nods.

The Avengers gasp as Loki shimmers, and is replaced with a man with an identical face, identical hair, but wearing Hawaiian shorts, a T-Shirt, and flip flops.

Tony chuckles and praises Loki on his new look.

Thor frowns.

"These are not the normal robes of an Asgardian."

No one is more shocked than Loki. He scowls, and sends out glares like lasers.

"How?" He demands, furiously trying to send up more magic, but finds there is a block in his mind.

He looks towards Lena. "You!" He hisses, and charges towards her, leaving what is left of his dignity behind as he smacks into a purple force field, hitting his nose hard.

He falls to his knees, clutching his nose, which is swiftly turning red.

Lena smiles at him.

"Nice try honey. Better luck next time." With that she turns and walks away, ponytail swishing behind her.

Tony laughs again.

"Well, Loki. Looks like you've lost your position as supreme keeper of the last word."

Loki glares, still kneeling on the floor. She'd almost be funny, witty, pretty, if she wasn't out to embarrass him, he thinks.

Lena, upon hearing this thought, smiles to herself.

She sends a message to him.

'You'd almost be funny, witty, handsome, if you hadn't tried to take over my world.'

Loki frowns.


	6. Chapter 6- Is this real?

Is this real?

A/N Hello again!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Marvel!

Over the next few days, Lena keeps a close eye on Loki.

A closer eye than he would like, thinks Loki sullenly. He knows the Avengers don't trust him because of New York, but he thought they trusted him enough to not have a incredibly annoying telepath following him everywhere.

Like, literally, everywhere.

There's always a small shadow he can see out the corner of his eye, and even though he can never see her, he knows she is there. He keeps walking into solid, invisible objects which squeak, and vanish quickly, and there are certain blurs in his vision, blurs caused by something he doesn't quite understand.

Being prone to tricks himself, he can usually recognise where people are tricking him. But this time, he knows it is happening, but he's not sure how. The girl is not of Asgard, or any of the more magical realms, so it can't be magic. The girl is of Midgard, the most boring and mundane of the realms.

So what is it that sets her apart?

Sure, the other Midgardian Avengers have their power, but their power is easy to source. It's not always logical, or expected from such a weak population, but it's obvious if you know where to look. But there's no obvious answer here.

Loki would ask Stark or Banner to analyse her DNA, but there is no way either of them would do that.

He could ask any of the others if they know. He could ask Rogers about the serum.

But every time he tries to get near, they all back off, or he finds a purple force field blocking his path.

He rolls his eyes. Loki Laufeyson, ridiculed and effectively imprisoned by a small human girl.

And to think, he could be ruling her, her world, her realm, her life. Instead, it almost feels like the other way round.

Loki always thought his tricks were harmless, and that no one minded. Now he knows how damned annoying it is.

He also knows never to take chances with his choice of clothing.

Lena stands on the edge of the wire platform, looking out over New York. The sky is dark, but the city is lit up, bright lights flashing all over. She can't see any stars.

There's a gentle breeze in the city, and it blows her hair slightly, and cools her down. It's a hot evening.

The platform stretches out from Stark Tower, and there is no logical reason as to why she should want to be here. It's not exactly secure, not meant to have someone standing on it. No safety measure, nothing beneath her except a plummet to the hard concrete of the pavement.

Not that a fall would hurt her necessarily, of course. She could stretch down, lower her speed, touch the floor. She could simply put up a force field like a bubble, and bounce across the city.

She's been experimenting with her powers all her life, and with the arrival of Loki she's really seen the importance of it. Being an Avenger means she will have to fight, and when she needs to she will need to be ready.

Could she use the force fields as a method of flight? For example, if she created a platform and stood on it, could she control where it went?

Lena sighs. There's only one way to find out.

She flexes her fingers, and puts her mind to work, concentrating on a small disc of force field. It appear in front of her, shaking slightly.

Lena bends down, and leans towards it. She waves her hand gently, through the force field, and frowns when she only feels a slight resistance. Other than that, her hand passes straight through.

She bites her lip, and closes her eyes, really concentrating on a solid object. When she opens her eyes, it's there exactly how she pictured it. She runs her hand towards it again, but is met with a hard surface. Lena puts her hand on top and presses down; it holds firm. Would it take her weight?

Lena stands up, still biting her lip, but smiling slightly, and prepares herself mentally for the step. The disc is just about big enough for both feet, but maybe after some practice she could create bigger ones, or two, one for each foot.

She looks down at her trainers, then takes them off. She holds her foot above the force field for some time, contemplating the outcome, weighing the pros and cons. Eventually she steps on with one foot.

Although there is a slight pain in her head, the disc holds steady, and she continues to concentrate on a solid object, and steps on with the other foot.

Now she is floating, properly floating, above New York City. The wire platform she stepped off from is still in touching distance, should she need to step back.

Just like every time she discovers something new, she feels free and alive. The wind rushes through her hair, stronger than usual, and she struggles to balance.

Deciding not to tempt fate, she steps off the disc, back into the platform, and watches as the disc vanishes. That's enough experimentation for one night.

Loki watches her with an expression halfway between amusement and awe. He's also kind of smugly pleased with himself, as he's managed to sneak up on her, and she hasn't noticed. Or maybe she has, and is choosing to ignore him. He wouldn't blame her either way. She looks pretty preoccupied.

He sees her experimenting, and this intrigues him. She's pretty strong, why would she need to develop further?

Before, he might have taken advantage of this. Her wanting to develop could be a sign of not happy with her lot, and Loki would have been perfectly happy to exploit this, turn her into his ally and use her as a weapon.

Instead, he just wants to tell her to stop, tell her all the reasons why she shouldn't risk it. Loki swear silently to himself.

When did he become so soft, so _caring_? Maybe there is something wrong with him. No, he reassures himself, it's not that he cares for her, it's that he cares for his brother, and if the girl was hurt then his would upset his brother. That's it.

Loki likes this theory.

But he quickly disproves this theory when the winds knock her off balance, and it's all he can do to not run out there, catch her and tell her off, to tell her to never risk her life like that again. He stops himself quickly though, annoyed with himself and her.

Annoyed with himself for caring, for not being Loki, for being someone different, someone he hasn't quite got to terms with. Is this what it is like to care? Thor always spoke of it as something good, but he sees nothing good about wanting to nut hurt somebody.

Annoyed with her for making him care, even though she has done nothing except follow him around.

Loki could hit himself. This whole visit was stupid. As if he could make peace with the Avengers. As if he could care.

Buts he's still relieved when she steps back onto the wire platform, and turns to come back inside. That's when he has to melt into the darkness, and return to his room to ponder his predicament.

The next night, Lena goes out to the platform again. All day she was on edge, waiting for when she could get out and practice again. She wanted to tell someone, but she knew all the Avengers would be worried for her, would not want her hurting herself. Even Clint, especially Clint, would tell her she was being silly.

Due to this, she almost told Loki. But somehow, she feels as though he's mad at her for something. He keeps sending her glances, glances full of emotion, but she hasn't quite worked out what the emotion is.

It must be hatred, Lena decides. Loki could feel nothing else for her, after all. And she certainly doesn't feel anything for him.

_Denial_, a little voice in her head says. _Denial_, _that's_ _where_ _it_ _starts_.

Lena frowns, then mentally slaps that little voice. She won't listen to it. Like she was told, she will hate Loki, because he did bad things. She will.

With this fresh determination in mind, she begins to practice.

Loki watches her again. He watches until he's sure she must be exhausted, and she should have stopped hours ago.

Concern rises in him like a cloud of steam, and suddenly his heart is controlling his head, and he is walking out.

"Aren't you tired?" A voice echoes across the silent night, and Loki realises, too late, that it is his. Lena spins, her eyes wide and alert, scanning for attackers and threats. Her shoulders are tensed, her arms lifted in front of her face, ready to fight.

Loki frowns to himself. He usually has this effect on people, but it had never hurt before.

When she sees his relaxed stance, and the genuine worry in his eyes, Lena feels herself relax. Wait, what? Faced with Loki, God of mischief, and she is relaxing? Double check yourself there Lena!

Lena fixes a firm glare on her face.

"Why should you care?" She keeps her voice steady, layering it with anger.

Loki visibly recoils, and Lena wants to apologise, and finds herself doing so.

"Sorry, that was mean." The anger is gone from her voice, and she looks at her feet.

Loki looks more shocked than she feels at her response. He smiles, and Lena wants to smile too.

"Oh that's okay. It was a perfectly fair question. It's just you've been going for a while not as long as yesterday." Loki mentally slaps himself, as he's just admitted to watching her.

An amused smile crosses Lena's face as she steps down from the disc she created ,larger than yesterday's.

"So you were watching me?" She smiles cautiously.

Loki blushes as red as a tomato.

"No..." Lean raises her eyebrows. "Yes. Okay, yes I was." He looks at the floor. "There's not much going on here." He tries.

Lena keeps her eyebrows raised.

"So what you are telling me, that in New York, city of lights, of restaurants, of _everything_, you couldn't find anything better to do than watch me practice flying badly?"

Loki doesn't reply.

Instead he kisses her.

It happens so fast Lena doesn't notice at first, doesn't see him until he's kissing her, one hand at her cheek.

Clint can't sleep. He doesn't know why, but he can't. He has that funny feeling something is going on that he doesn't know about, something he doesn't like and has to put a stop to.

And, as Tony often says, Clint's 'sixth sense' if often right, so he needs to find the source of his problem, and stop it. Fast.

He walks into the kitchens of Stark Tower, and notices the toaster is still plugged in. His shoulders sag in relief, and he walks over to unplug it. That must have been it.

Nothing major, phew.

But when he unplugs it, the funny feeling doesn't go away. It's still there, a nagging doubt in his stomach.

He wanders round, his eyes peeled, looking for anything out of place.

He notices an open window, the one by the wire platform. He does to close it, when he sees what must be the source of his sick feeling.

Clint sees Lena kissing Loki, her arms wrapped around his neck, and a balloon of anger at Loki swells up inside him. He's also angry of Lena, of course. He will deal with Lena first.

He could punch something. He probably will. He just hopes it isn't Loki.

Lena breaks off, blushing, when Clint yells. He hears Loki swear softly, before Lena takes in Clint's angry face and runs towards him, away from the equally angry looking Loki.

Clint steps backwards, and turns away as Lena climbs, shaking through the window.

She's never seen Clint this angry before, and it scares her as much as the fact that she just kissed the God of mischief. She doesn't say anything, and waits for Clint to speak.

It takes a while for Clint to formulate the right words in his head, due to the fact that he is seeing red, and it's the middle of the night.

"Lena, why? You know how dangerous that man is!"

"Look, Clint, I don't see why you are so angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you, well I am, but mostly , I am mad at him!" He snaps, and gestures out the window. "I told you what he did, did I not? I told you about his tricks, and games? I told you not to trust him!" He lifts his hands above his head, totally exasperated. How could he be so stupid as to let this happen?

"It's not what you think!" Lena protests.

"How is it not?"

"He's not tricking me, I know he's not. I really feel for him." The desperation in Lena's voice is clear, and she begins to cry. "Clint, I really feel for him." Clint stops, and checks himself. He finds the source of anger is also at himself, for letting this happen. He realises he views Lena as his little sister, and he doesn't want anything to harm her. Then he remembers she's a telepath, and blocks the thought.

He opens his arms, and Lena runs into them, hugging him tightly.

"Clint." Her muffled voice says. "Clint I don't know what to do."

Clint doesn't really know what to say. He pauses before speaking.

"I just don't you to be hurt, Lena, I'm sorry. I just don't trust that man, and I don't want him to take advantage of you."

Lena doesn't reply.


	7. Chapter 7- Come with me

Come with me

A/N Hello

Disclaimer: I own nothing ,it all belongs to Marvel!

None of the three people awake that night had said anything about it. Needless to say, this caused endless confusion to the other Avengers, who could see no explicable reason for the high emotions and nerves of the three involved.

Loki was more stubborn, more snarky, then ever before. Sarcastic comments flowed from him like water from a tap, and it didn't take much to get him started. All efforts to be forgiving and build inter realm bridges had disappeared, and Loki seemed pretty determined to leave as soon as possible, only he wouldn't.

Clint was on edge all the time, as if he was attacking a ninja to appear out of nowhere and attack him. He was particularly on edge around Loki, and although the Avengers could deduce it was because it was Loki, the sudden tension was something they couldn't explain.

Lena, well Lena had been the worst. She refused to keep an eye on Loki, and lashed at anyone who tried to come near. She was not sleeping, and spending increasing amounts of time alone on the roof, her anger and frustration fuelling the force fields. Soon she would be flying. She hasn't been getting much sleep lately, and not just because of the practicing. Also because every time she shuts her eyes, she knows what she truly feels, and truly wants, and she doesn't want to accept that.

It didn't help that Loki had stopped watching her. Even when she didn't know he was there, she felt safer knowing, or feeling, that there was someone there to catch her if she fell. Now that she knows she is alone, that there is no one there, it hurts more than the confusion.

For a moment the pieces fit together, and everything made sense. Then she woke up, and realised the mess she was in.

Loki knows the reason he's still here, and he doesn't like it. It's obviously because of her.

That doesn't mean he has to admit it though.

In one of his most recent arguments with the frankly too easy to annoy Avengers, Captain Rogers asked him,

"If you hate it so much here, why don't you just leave?" Loki thought it was a pretty fair question, but Rogers seemed to regret it as soon as the words left his mouth, and the other Avengers seemed to snap out of the fighting mode, and instead just talked to each other in quiet, hushed voices.

Loki ponders this. He finds it strange the amount they trust each other. And why they feel the need to be 'nice' to him, and reign in their tempers in, even when he is pushing, no, hitting, their buttons nearly minutely. He would admire them for it, if he didn't believe it stupid that people should not say what they feel.

Even as a trickster, he nearly always says what is on his mind, and when someone is annoying him, well, he lets them know. Then they don't do it again.

He laughs to himself. Annoying them wouldn't be nearly as much fun if they didn't try to stop themselves getting angry. He heard that people try to stop others being annoying by ignoring them. But this is just perfect fuel for Loki.

Despite everything, Lena was right about him being bored. There's nothing here worth his time here, and even being a right royal pain in the neck can be boring sometimes. It's just too easy. Maybe that's why he fell for her. He let his guard down, because he was bored.

Loki stands up, and punches the wall. He bits his lip, and curses inwardly, at everything he can think of.

He should have destroyed this realm when he had the chance.

He should just kill the girl. Then he realises that would hurt him, and his newly found heart.

Loki punches the wall again. Damn!

Lena wanders round the kitchen, gathering ingredients from the cupboards, for the omelette. It's the only thing she knows how to make, so omelette it is. She's hungry.

She hope the pan doesn't make too much noise, as it is 2 in the morning. She's been practicing for 3 hours, trying to block out everything.

Lena hums to herself as she bends down to the fridge, opening it, reaching for the egg carton. She straightens up, and places the carton on the clean worksurface, inspecting the eggs.

She chops the peppers, and puts them in the pan, smiling as they start to fizz in the hot fat. She's still humming as she pours the egg over the peppers, and as she begins to grate the cheese.

Lena gets a plate down and then picks up the pan, ready to put the omelette on the plate.

"What song are you singing?" The voice makes her jump, like it did last time, and she flings the pan up in the air, and omelette flying, then falling, like a stone toward the man standing in the doorway.

Lena could laugh. Asgard obviously doesn't have the same film culture as Earth. Everyone she knew would recognise the song from Grease, one of her favourite films of all time. Maybe, she'd watch it with Loki sometime. He might even like it.

Then she frowns to herself. Why is she thinking this? They have no future together, any fool could see that. And she hopes she isn't a fool.

Loki raises his eyebrows as she turns, and catches the pan. The omelette, unfortunately, was out of his control, and Lena has to hold back a giggle as it lands his head, splitting down the middle and sliding down his face, leaving a trail of egg and cheese.

Loki shakes his head, and the remains of Lena's snack fall on the floor, with a splat.

Lena grabs a cloth from the side, and wets it under the cold tap.

She walks over to Loki, and hesitantly wipes his face with it. He wrinkles up his nose, and she backs away, nervous.

"Sorry, I didn't..." She trails off, then stares at him ,confused as he begins to laugh.

"No, it's fine. It's just cold." He laughs, and looks up at her, and Lena laughs too. She gathers up her confidence, and walks back towards him, and carries on wiping off the egg.

When she's finished there's an awkward silence.

"What song was it?" Loki asks again. He tilts his head on one side, very aware of how close they are standing.

Lena swallows before answering.

"We go together. It's from a musical."

Loki laughs, and sound Lena is beginning to get used too, in a good way. It's a sound she likes to hear.

"And what does that tell you?" Loki replies. Lena's heart stops in her mouth, and she looks down towards the floor.

"I don't know." She whispers, her words spoken fast in a single breath. She takes a deep breath in, and she kisses him.

"Lena?" Loki says, as he walks into her room later. "I've been thinking about something."

Lena looks up from the book she was reading. It's the next day, and she feels a lot happier. After the omelette fiasco, Loki insisted she go to sleep, which she did. And of course, there's Loki himself. All hers.

"Yes?" She smiles.

Loki smiles too. It's contagious.

"Come to Asgard. With me." Loki says, and Lena can hear the bravery that went into saying those words leaking through in nervousness, and he blushes. Lena shuts the book, and stands up.

"Okay." She says. She knows now that she will do anything for him, and never wants to be without him. Clint would be disappointed that she's leaving, of course, but he will survive. Like Tony says, Clint is like a beach ball. He can bounce back from most things.

Loki looks at her in surprise. He hadn't expected her to agree that quickly, and although he's pleased, it does shock him a bit.

Lena sees his surprise, and laughs.

"Don't be so frightened. I'm not going to bite!" She pokes his arm, and he smiles too.

"No , I know that. I just thought you would take a little more persuading." He blushes a deeper red.

"What, don't you want me to come?" Lena teases. Loki takes her hand.

"No! Of course I do, just, thought..." He runs out of words. Lena squeezes his hand.

"I know. I was only joking." There's a pause, though a companiable one. "I will have to talk to Clint though."

Loki winces. He was hoping she wouldn't mention this to Clint until they were leaving, as it's a safe bet that the archer will not be pleased, and will probably put up a fight. Loki knows Clint trusts him about as much as he would trust a grasshopper to hold up a bridge, so chances of Clint agreeing happily? Zero.

Lena tries not to notice this, and she smiles at him again.

"Look, I love Clint, although not like I love you, and I do need to talk to him." Lena tells him.

Loki's heart stops. She just said loved him. Loki smiles widely at her, and kisses her hand. She blushes.

"Of course. Now go, take speed, so we can go." Lena laughs, and runs off to the firing range, where she knows Clint will be.

Clint fires arrow after arrow into the target at the other end of the range. He likes to vent his frustration in this way, always has. Since he was tiny, shooting has always been a way to keep his mind off things he doesn't want to think about.

He's often alone in here, and that's the way he likes it. Especially since he's always in a bad mood all the time, worried sick about his friend. And, of course, Loki, who has upped the ante in the most-annoying-idiot of the year award, which he usually would have given to Tony.

"Clint." He recognises her voice as it echoes off the high ceiling of the firing range, and he stops, retracting his arm from where it was reaching for the next arrow. He turns, and sees the anxious look on her face.

He sighs, and walks towards her. She bits her lip, a sure sign she's nervous about something.

"This is serious, isn't it?" Clint says, putting his hands on her shoulders. Lena turns her head slightly, and tilts it down, formulating the words in her mind.

"Yes." Lena takes a deep breath in, and closes her eyes. Don't back down now, Richards. "Clint, I'm going to Asgard to Loki."

It's Clint's turn to look at the floor. He sighs, then looks up her again. Clint reads the emotions splashed across her face. Anxiousness, nerves, guilt, happiness and sadness. A whole range of emotions and colours, as easy for Clint to read as they always have been.

This reassures him. This isn't some trick. She truly loves him. She loves Loki.

Clint sighs. He supposes he should do what is best for her.

"Okay." Clint says reluctantly. "That is okay. I think." Lena smiles, then gasps, and suddenly she's crying as she realises what it means. She's leaving Clint again.

"Clint.."

"No, Lena. You have to go. It's what you want." Clint says, believing the words but not wanting to.

Lena smiles slightly, the tears falling down her cheeks silently.

"I'm the telepath here."

Clint chuckles sadly.

"Yeah, I know. I don't have to be to know. And that's why I'm trusting you. Just promise me, if anything happens, you come back, okay? There's always a place here, okay!" Clint say desperately, feeling his friend slip between his fingers like water. Keep it ogether Barton, remember what Tony says? You're the beach ball, the one who bounces back. She won't be gone forever, remember that, Barton.

Clint knows it is Lena telling him this, and he almost smiles at her efforts to make him happy. He doesn't want her to feel guilty.

Lena nods repeatedly as she tries to ignore the pain she's causing him.

"Of course. Thank you Clint. Will you tell the others?" She asks softly.

Clint just nods, trying to smile.


	8. Chapter 8- Asgard

Asgard

A/N so sorry it's been so long! It's a long story involving trigonometry homework, but I won't go on! Hello again, and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Marvel

They vanished in the night. The Avengers woke up one morning, and they were gone, leaving only a piece of paper in their place.

Dear all, it read. Pressing matters have arisen in Asgard that Loki needs to attend to, and I've gone with him. Don't worry about me. I'll keep in touch. Lena x

They're baffled, to say the least. Steve is worried, having seen first hand what Loki's tricks could do.

"What if he's tricked her?" He says, staring out the vast glass window towards the busy city. He knows Loki, and he knows that tricking and Magic is always a possibility. But he thought Lena was capable of resisting it.

"She's already shown she's immune to his tricks, somehow." Natasha answers. Steve turns, and folds his arms. What Natasha says is true, but he isn't convinced. He trusts Loki about as far as he can throw him. Which isn't very far.

Clint stays silent for the first few minutes. He, of course, knows exactly why Lena left, and it's not because of matters in Asgard. But should he tell them? Would they believe him? Or would they believe that he also had been tricked.

Clint stands up, and breathes out deeply. He runs his hands through his hair, then look at the floor before looking up at the others.

Natasha knows Clint has something to say. He's nervous, and Lena was his best friend, after all. She looks at him expectantly.

The others notice Natasha's gaze.

"Loki didn't trick her. At least not with magic." Clint says, voice cracking slightly.

Bruce frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is..." Clint trails off, and hits his hands together, looking up at the sky. "She went of her own free will."

"Why would she?"

"Well, she was in love with him. And believed he was in love with her." Clint drops this bombshell, then turns away, hating himself all over again for letting her go.

Nobody says anything for a few seconds, and an awkward silence fills the room. This totally unexpected news even silences Tony, who usually has plenty to say. Natasha opens her mouth, then closes it again.

"Clint..." She says, seeing her friends pain. "She will be okay. She's capable of taking care of herself."

Clint laughs hollowly. He knows that.

"I don't why I let her go. Why did I trust him?" Theses questions have been whirring around his head ever since his conversation with Lena at the firing range, and it makes him feel sick sometimes. Why, Clint, why.

Thor walks swiftly over to Clint, and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Clint looks up at him, surprised.

"Do not worry, Hawk." He smiles. "I will check up on your tiny friend. I will make sure she is fine."

Clint feels slightly better when he takes this point into consideration. Thor knows Loki, knows Asgard, knows Odin and all the others. He supposes what he was most worried about was the prospect of a new world for Lena. A world where Midgardians are irrelevant and inconsequential.

Tony just stares at Clint.

"You mean, she fell in love with Loki?" Clint nods sadly when Tony says this. Tony rolls his eyes, and sighs. "Loki, who we had her stalk because of how dangerous he was?" This raises a second issue.

Not only did Loki potentially manipulate Lena, but they also may have led her straight into it.

Tony realises this and swears loudly. Steve raises his eyebrows, but says nothing.

"This is stupid. We should go to Asgard, go get her back. She's being stupid, and we all know it. Even you, Clint, have to admit that Lena would probably not have done this in her right mind." He points the pen in his hand at them all.

Clint pinches the bridge of his nose, and closes his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but she truly was in love with that man, no matter how much we try to deny it. I know her better than anyone, and the look in her eyes, was, unfortunately, love. I don't know Loki well enough to tell if he felt the same, but I am sure as hell hoping he did. For his sake, if anything else. Because if he didn't, and he hurt her, I don't care if anyone cares for him, an arrow or two is going to be finding its way towards him."

The awkward silence again fills the room. Natasha smiles slightly at Clint's words; it reminds her of what Clint said during the catastrophe of New York. Reminds her that the Avengers are still a team, and a good team at that, a team that can take down anything.

Tony ponders his next words.

"Okay, Hawk." He says, his words filled with less anger than before. "We give her a day or two to contact us. I trust you, and if you say she thought her decision was right, then I believe you. But if she doesn't contact us, we're going to find her."

A murmur of agreement runs round the room, and Tony sets his watch.

123445677890

10 hours earlier.

Lena tightens the straps on her rucksack, and tightens her already tight ponytail. She stands up, surveying her room. The few possessions she had in her room have now been packed up, and the room is as empty and as lacking in personality as it was when she was assigned to it.

This makes her smile. This is how it's meant to be. As though the few weeks she spent here never happened, and though she never existed here. A dream, a faint memory. Ey would move on and forget her.

Perhaps the guilt she feels for leaving them would lessen too. She can only hope so, for at the moment it feels like a boulder, weighing her down.

The door opens, slightly, and Loki pokes his head round the door, smiling when he sees her. Lena smiles back, and feels the weight reduce. There is a reason to why she's doing this, and he's standing there, smiling at her.

His eyes question her silently. She nods, and follows him out the room, and they hurry out the building, as quiet as they can.

Then they're running along the empty streets, and Lena can't help laughing, and smiling. Loki looks at her, smiling widely, and punches the air with his fist.

"Haha!" He yells.

They reach Central Park, and Loki stops running.

Lena shoots him a look, and stares around her, as though expecting Asgard to jump out a bush, wearing a hat.

"Central Park? That's where the entrance to the ever mysterious Asgard is?" Lena folds her arms, and raises her eyebrows at Loki.

Loki chuckles, and looks up at something only he can see.

"No, of course not. You can enter Asgard from anywhere. I just thought a stream of rainbow light would be noticed in the middle of a New York street."

"It will also be noticed in the middle of Central Park. And also, rainbow bridge? Seriously?"

"Yes." Loki replies, as if this is obvious. Lena throws her head and laughs. "What?" He says, bewildered.

"Sorry, but _rainbow_ _bridge_?" Lena doubles over. The idea of something as pretentious as a rainbow bridge connecting the feeble realm of Midgard to Asgard, realm of Kings, is overwhelmingly funny.

Loki frowns. "What's wrong with that?"

Lena, seeing she's not going to be able explain her mirth, waves her hand, but continues to laugh. Loki shrugs, and looks up, waiting for the Heimdall. He receives it.

Loki smiles, and turns to Lena.

"Take my hand."

"Subtle."

He laughs.

"No seriously."

She raises her eyebrows again, but takes his hand anyway.

Good thing she did, she thinks, as a beam of rainbow light carries them upward.

Lena would scream, but there's no air left in her lungs. She watches almost sadly as the Earth fades beneath her, but then looks at Loki, and then upwards, towards Asgard.

She's surprised when her feet touch solid ground, and then her feet walk forwards, and suddenly she's being greeted by a tall man in a helmet, who smiles at Loki knowingly.

"Lady Richards, it is an honour to meet you." He bows. "I am Heimdall."

Lena is rather taken aback.

"Oh, thanks. Nice to meet you." She tries to curtsy, but finds her attempts at elegance failing her. Loki roars with laughter, and she hits his arm gently, blushing.

"Come on, then, show me Asgard." Lena looks up at Loki.

He smiles.

"Of course."


	9. Chapter 9- An audience with Odin

An audience with Odin

A/N Hello again! Thanks for reading, please review I love to hear what you think :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, it all belongs to Marvel

Loki walks confidently up the gates of the largest building Lena has ever seen. It is so bright and golden, it almost blinds her for a second. Even in her first few minutes in Asgard, however, she's learned to not be shocked by anything.

That's mainly because right now, she's walking across a rainbow bridge, having just flown into the sky,

The bridge glimmers beneath her, and she tests her weight on it, wondering what it is made of. Its certainly not a substance that can be found on Earth, and this intrigues her. What other wonders does Asgard have to offer?

This question is quickly answered, several times.

The first is when she steps inside what she assumes is a palace, and is greeted by several men and women in almost medieval dress, who all seem to know her by name. Or a fancy version of her name, anyway. The hallway they are now standing in is just as beautiful as he rest of the small glimpse of Asgard Lenah as recently received. Long windows throw tall beams of light and sunshine around the room, turned purple, blue and gold by the painted frames of glass. Lena smiles. Regal colours. This Odin person seems to really like showing off his wealth.

"Lady Eleanor." A tall, bearded man bows. "Long have we expected your visit." He stands up, his eyes gleaming.

Lena shoots a sidewise glance at Loki. Had he told them she was coming? The man laughs when he sees her gaze. "No, my Lady. Heimdall, who you will have met, can see all."

This doesn't really make sense to Lena, but she decides to accept it. She nods awkwardly, then lifts her gaze slightly to the intricately carved ceiling.

The breath is knocked out of her as she takes in the beauty before her. A word does on her lips, and she just stands there, her mouth in an 'o' of wonder.

Loki grins, and pulls on her elbow. Lena looks down again, and blushes.

A portly, cheerful looking lady comes towards her, and takes her arm.

"Come, my Lady. Before you meet the King you must be suitably dressed."

Lena's head snaps up at these words. The _King_? Of _Asgard_? Blimey. She looks at Loki, worried.

He gives her a reassuring smile, but lets her be lead away nonetheless.

The lady introduces herself as Gaiathryn, or Gaia. Lena likes the way a smile is never far from her lips, and the way Gaia bustles about, and the way she makes Lena feels important, but is still friendly.

Lena smiles as Gaia clucks her tongue impatiently at the battered trainers Lena is wearing.

Gaia opens a large, carved wooden door, and Lena's eyes widen at the large array of dresses, from simple to extravagant, that are hanging the space. Gaia takes no notice of this, and rifles through the dresses cheerfully, whistling.

Lena sits on the edge of the bed in the room, nervously, taking a deep breath in anytime that Gaia's fingers rest on a pink dress. She lets a large breath out, one she had no idea she was holding, when Gaia emerges triumphantly, holding a simple, deep purple dress.

When Lena puts it on, she sighs sadly. The dress is far too big. The sleeves reach right past her hands, and the bottom gathers at the floor, pooling like a lake of purple water.

Gaia stands in front of her, her face clouded in thought. Then she takes out a few pins, and scissors, and begins to cut carefully at the dress.

In a matter of minutes, the dress fits. Lena watches in wonder as the hem of the dress sews itself instantly as Gaia cuts. Gaia stands up, and smiles at the look of wonder that Lena feels will be constantly plastered on her face during her stay here. However long that may be.

"How did you do that?" Lena asks, looking up at the kindly woman. Gaia shakes her head, laughing.

"I am the head seamstress here. I have my ways." She taps her nose knowingly, and Lena laughs.

"So it's a secret?"

"I'm afraid so, my lady. Now, what are we going to do with your hair?" She asks her herself, as she pulls the elbow length waves out of the bobolink that held them up. They fall around Len's face, sticking out at all angles.

Gaia clucks her tongue.

" Lucky I have hair styling skills as well."

Gaia smiles as she braids Lena's hair over her shoulder, but leaves a few wispy bits framing her face.

"There, my Lady. Fit for a court of Asgard." She nods approvingly.

Lena just smiles. She's not so sure.

There's a knock on the door, and they both look up. Not waiting for an answer, Loki enters, and grins when he sees Lena. He is wearing clothes similar to what he usually wears, only gold clips attach a deep green Cape, which makes Lena giggle slightly, and gold thread trims the edge of the material, defining from it the usual green and black get up.

Gaia winks, and walks towards the door.

"You are expected in court in ten minutes, Sir." She nods to Loki as she leaves. Lena watches the door close behind Gaia, then turns to Loki.

She voices her biggest worry first.

"Loki, what if he doesn't like me?" Loki sighs, although not sadly, and sits down next to her.

"Why wouldn't he?"

"I.. I don't understand this place. Maybe he won't like that."

"If not understanding is a crime, then I will be banished too. Because I wouldn't understand why anyone wouldn't like you." Loki smiles. Lena blushes, and looks down her hands, which are clasped in the folds of her knee length dress.

She doesn't tell Loki the main reason why she's worried. It's not that she thinks Odin won't like her. She _knows_ Odin won't like her. She knows this because of what happened to Thor and Jane.

Thor, after confessing his love to Jane, took her to Asgard to ask Odin for his blessing to marry Jane. Odin refused, on account of Jane being mortal.

Thor hadn't told Lena, or anyone for that matter, this, but being telepath means Lena knows everything, even if she doesn't want to.

Still, Odin might make an exception. Even as she thinks this though, Lena knows it's unlikely.

Loki looks at the clock on the wall, and raises, offering his arm. Lena stands, taking it, and swallows she walks with Loki.

They stop outside the biggest pair of doors Lena has ever seen, which are painted and carved to show what she assumes is a large battle.

On one door, blue monsters hold clubs, ice firing out their fingers. On the right, the victorious golden armies of Asgard charge. Loki winces when he sees the painting, just like every time.

Then the doors swing open, and a large voice proclaims,

"Loki of Jotenheim and Eleanor of Midgard." Lena hears a few sniggers at 'Midgard', and once again gets the impression that humans are inferior here. This, of course, does nothing to calm her nerves, and she feels a spike of terror.

She feels eyes burning into her like lasers. She doesn't dare look, but she knows many are watching her, judging her and assessing her. Lena takes deep breaths, and focuses on smiling.

Loki walks quickly and calmly down the long hall, and then pauses before a large chair. He bows, and Lena curtsies, not daring to rise, or look up, until she hears a voice.

"Rise." The voice sounds slightly bored. Had she been anywhere else, Lena would have rolled her eyes. Great start, she thinks.

Loki smiles at the man sitting in the throne. Lena's heart stops in her chest when she lifts her head slightly higher, high enough the behold the man. Her smile vanishes.

Odin is old, but not in a weak way. Odin, it appears, is one of those older men that seem to hold power over anything, those wizened by age, that you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. Everything about him is regal an powerful, from the sneer on his face and the way he holds himself.

Lena feels disappointment surging inside her. There's no chance that she will persuade this man that she is anything more than a mortal pansy.

"Father, I would like to you to meet my.." Loki hesitates slightly. He looks at Lena, who smiles shyly. "Betrothed, Eleanor Richards." Lena coughs, more out of shock than anything else.

Loki shoots her a glance, questioning her, as if to say, that okay? Lena grins at him, her stomach doing flips, and her heart beating at a million miles an hour.

_Subtle_, she mouths. Loki smiles back at her, relived, before turning his head back to his father.

Odin raises his eyebrows and looks between the two people standing before him.

"Betrothed, you say?" Every word is laced with power, and a threatening hint. Loki nods.

"Tell me girl, where did you meet my son?" Odin turns his head slightly to look at Lena, and she gulps under his iron glare.

Keep strong, Lena. She takes a deep breath.

"I am, I mean, I was, a member of the Avengers that Loki was staying with." She blushes. "Sir." She adds hastily.

Odin seems amused by this.

"An Avenger you say?" He smiles slightly. Lena gets the eerie feeling that this isn't really a question. She keeps quiet, bowing her head slightly.

Odin snorts softly, and looks around the hall. The courtiers sneer in response, looking down at the small girl who believes she is mighty enough to become a lady of Asgard. Odin seems pleased by the reaction of his courtiers, and turns back to the pair with a smug smile on his face.

"Since when did the collaboration of Earth's mightiest heroes accept such small, weedy girls?" Every time he speaks, the words are laced with more and more poison, with more and more power. Lena hates it.

Lena blushes furiously, and lifts her hands. Odin stares her down, daring her to do something. She does, and sets her hands on fire, smiling slightly to herself at the hushed gasps that echo from some standing around the hall.

Odin tries not to look impressed.

"Is that all?"

Loki watches this happen sadly, feeling the hope slip out his hands like sand. He masks his emotions though, keeping his face blank of all emotion, and he takes deep breaths to steady his shaking hands.

Loki snaps, and steps forward.

"I'm sick of playing games, father. Do you give your blessing or not?" He says. He knows what the answer will most likely be, now that he's seen his fathers reaction, but he won't accept it until it slaps him right in the face.

Which it does.

"No." Odin replies cooly. "This girl is impressive, but still a mortal, and has no place here in Asgard. However, I grant her free to stay here as long as you wish, under the condition that you do not marry her." Loki feels a little balloon of hope grow.

Odin turns to Gaia. "Gaiathryn Pearl, I assign to you the task of looking after Lady Eleanor during her stay here." Lena turns her head towards Gaia, who smiles reassuringly at her.

"You are dismissed."

Then he turns back to the courtier standing nearest him. Loki takes Lena's arm and leads her out the hall, anger wrestling with peace within him. What is he going to do now? Is he can't have Lena, he doesn't have anything. He glances at her, and knows she feels the same.


	10. Chapter 10- Eleanor Laufeyson

Eleanor Laufeyson

A/N hello again! For those of you who have read Miss Fantastic, this chapter won't come as much of a surprise to you, but it doesn't matter if you haven't! Anyways, I'm going off on a tangent again, and thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!

Loki storms out, taking no notice of the girl who trails after him, even though she tries to capture his attention several times. He doesn't look at the smug courtiers, or the sympathetic look of Sif, as the turns and walks away from his father.

Well, Loki thinks sullenly, he's not his actual father. He always preferred Thor.

The courtroom seems suddenly longer, quieter, and he can hear every thud of his shoes on the polished cold floor. It breaks his heart, several times over, when he hears the second thud of feet behind him, which are more frantic, and realises he's not alone. But, not in a good way.

Lena has to walk quickly to keep up with Loki, and even then she's still behind him, almost tripping over his long green cape. She has much shorter legs than he does. She frowns as she follows him, ignoring the glances she receives from the many people standing around this vast hall.

She allows herself once glance over her shoulder at Odin. The king is unmoved by his son's rage, and is just sitting there, exactly as they found him. Un moved and indifferent. She wonders what he truly thinks of her. She was too terrified to read his mind. The mind of the others in the hall though, were practically screaming their thoughts at her. Odin laughs at something a tall lady with flowing brown hair and a frown on her face says, and Lena bites back a sarcastic remark. She wants to slap Odin, and tell him exactly what she thinks. That he has no right to boss her or Loki around, or judge her, and tell him that even if he thinks he's all mighty and powerful, he's just a bully. But Asgardian customs appear to be a lot stricter than Earth, and this court and realm seems very different from the relaxed environment she grew up in. Asgard is one of those place where words are the most powerful weapons, words can assure your death or bring you glory. It's all about obeying what you've been told, or pretending to, and manipulation, and she's pretty sure slapping the _king_ wouldn't get her into anyone's good books. For one, they'd just laugh.

They'd probably just view it as a sign of her weakness. That she was reckless, and stupid enough to defy a King of Asgard. What a weak mortal, who thought Loki loved her, ha, who thought she could make a difference. What a laugh they would have.

So Lena keeps her mouth shut, which is generally not something she is prone to doing.

"Loki!" She whispers, as soon as they are outside of the hall, and the golden doors close behind them. She doesn't look back at the painting, even though she wants to. Loki doesn't reply, so she repeats her words. No answer.

Loki ignores her for a reason. He doesn't want to make himself feel even more guilty. He dragged her into this, perhaps tricked her one could argue, into thinking that they could have the perfect, happy life together, when instead, he always knew a part of him was going to let her down. So he just keeps walking until he gets to the place where he can think.

Ignoring her is hard though. Even if she can't keep up with him, she's still shouting his name, either out loud, or in his head when people pass them. Also, even if she can't use her stretchy mutation to walk faster, she can certainly use it to grab his arm. He shakes her off though, and after a few minutes she gets, or accepts, the none to subtle hint.

Lena isn't too pleased that Loki is ignoring her. They have to sort this out together, and if Loki thinks that she is just going to settle for Odin's decision, then he has another thing coming.

Loki stops when he reaches the balcony overlooking the choppy sea, and sags as the weight of all the worries seems to evaporate into the fresh air, and is blown away by the breeze. He leans his forearms on the cool, carved stone of the balcony, and puts his head in his hands.

Lena doesn't know what to do at first, when she sees Loki like this. He's stressed obviously, but she doesn't know what to do now. She's always been bad at comforting people. That's why she's an assassin.

Loki finds himself crying. Not harsh, screaming tears, as he thought he would, just soft drops, which hiss when they trickle of his cheeks and land on the stone. Lena dips into his mind, and is hit with the wave of desperation currently drowning Loki. She cries too, and walks the few paces the stand by his side.

After a few minutes, he lifts his head up, and turns to look at her. She glances at his sad, sad face, before looking down at the stone, tracing her fingers through the grooves carved.

Loki smiles slightly.

"Hey." He whispers. "Don't cry."

Lena laughs softly.

"You're one to talk." She looks up at him, then blushes when he reaches up to wipe the tears away from her face. He ignores her comment, and looks out over the sea, and down at the waters, cliffs and rocks below.

"Lena, I'm sorry. I thought he would..."

Lena raises her eyebrows as he trails off. He bends down slightly, and rests his forearms completely on the balcony, clasping his hands together. The breeze whips through his hair, pushing it back.

"Thought he would... What? Not see me for what he thinks I am?"

Loki frowns at her.

"What does he think you are?"

Lean rolls her eyes, and sighs, letting out a deep breath.

"What everyone here sees me as, a pathetic mortal who thinks she's high enough to play with the might of Asgard."

"I don't see you like that."

Lena rolls her eyes again. Boys are just so bloody useless sometimes! Don't they notice anything?

"Yes, one out of thousands. Anyway, I know _you_ don't."

"How do you know they do then?" Loki asks, perplexed.

"Loki, I am a _telepath_."

Loki bangs his head slowly on the balcony. Of course. No wonder she's so pissed off. Odin may be a great king, but he's certainly judgemental when it came to non Asgardians. As are the rest of the courtiers.

"Lena, I'm sorry." Loki tries, pathetically. He blanches at the determination in her eyes.

"Sorry for what?" She folds her arms.

"Sorry for dragging you into this mess. Sorry for making you think we could be happy together."

That is the final straw that broke the donkey's back. Lena slaps him, across the cheek. She points her finger at him.

"Don't you dare say sorry, Loki Laufeyson! As if falling in love was something you could apologise for. I am not sorry that I am in love with you, and you didn't make me think we could be happy together, I thought that of my own accord. And I don't just think that, I know that. I love you, Loki, and there is no way I am letting you go just because your father sticks his nose up at me!" Lena snaps angrily. Her cheeks go red, and a fire lights in her eyes.

Loki is moved by this speech. Part of him, deep down, knew she wouldn't give up. That's one of the things he loves about her. He smiles. Then laughs.

"Oh, Lena." He turns to her and smiles again. "How could I ever think you would?" He laughs, and throw his head back. "Of course we have a future together. I was stupid to think it could be any other way."

Lena frowns, confused, her arms still folded.

"Yes, you were stupid."

"Thank you." Loki says drily, but he smiles anyway. "As long as you love me, because I love you, I'm happy."

Lena smiles now. She sticks her tongue out at him.

"What's stopping us from getting married anyway?" She asks. Loki's smile falters slightly.

"Well, we don't have Odin's blessing." He takes both her hands, and holds them in his. He looks at their hands as he speaks. He sneaks a glance at her face, and sees the frown is now back on her face.

"And?" She asks, her eyebrows raised. She's not impressed.

"Well, it wouldn't be right to get married without his permission." Loki tries to explain.

"Yeah, that happens all the time on Earth. Who cares?"

"Um.. Well my father is the king." Loki is still uncertain about Lena's certainty, and why she thinks this will work. The Odin he knows won't take something like this lightly.

Lena smiles slightly at the man before her. He's grown up now, but still afraid of what his father will think, say and do. Although, she supposes, she probably would if her father was a king, or even just older than her. Rather than the teenager she met when she was a teenager.

Loki takes a deep breath, and thinks about what he knows he has to do if this is to work. But he is will to do it. He will do anything for her, and anything to be with her.

"Let me ask you something. If a boy fell in love with an amazing, beautiful, and caring girl, but his father disapproved, should the boy marry her anyway? Say she sacrificed her best friend, life and world, all for him, should he also sacrifice his father for her."

Lena looks up at Loki, tears in her eyes. For his sake, she wishes that there was another way to be happy. But deep down, she knows that there isn't. Besides, she tells herself firmly, if Loki wasn't one hundred percent sure, he wouldn't do it, would he? No, she doesn't think he would.

"Yes." She says quietly. "Yes, I think he probably should."

Loki smiles sadly.

"Then that's what I will do." Loki murmurs. He rests his forehead on hers, and feels weirdly calm. He's doing this for a reason, he thinks. The best reason he's ever heard. Anyway, maybe through time, Odin will see what he sees. A caring and intelligent girl, who has done more for him than anyone else in the world. Odin will see that Loki really loves Lena, and will accept that.

Or he might just sneer at Loki too, but Loki will think about that when it happens. Which he hopes it never does.

But he's never going to stop loving Lena, so Odin may as well get used to it. Lena has as much right to be in Asgard as anyone. Loki smiles. Everything is going to be fine.

"Thank you." Lena says. "Thank you.". True relief spreads through her, from her diggers to her toes, creating hope for the future.

"So will you do it then?" Loki asks slowly. Lena's brow furrows.

"Do what?" She asks.

Loki sighs, then builds up the courage.

"Be Eleanor Laufeyson. My wife." He closes his eyes, and feels his heart stop before he hears the answer. He prays silently, waitng for what seems like years, but in reality is only seconds.

Lena takes a deep breath before answering. It feels like that this is the final step to leaving Earth and her old life, and becoming a new person. She lets out the breath.

"Yes."


	11. Chapter 11- A little bit of confusion

A little bit of confusion

A/N Hello!

After the short, and secret, ceremony Loki leads Lena into a small courtyard, and sits down on a bench. It's his thinking bench, where he planned all his schemes when he was little. Lena sits down beside him, but he doesn't notice, as his thinking cap is on, and he's already thinking of a way he can make this work.

Lena sits down beside her husband, and wrings her hands in her lap. Now that's she is officially married, despite the best wishes of Odin, she wants to get out of this golden palace, perhaps even this golden city, as quickly as possible. After all, she thinks, she probably hasn't seen Odin's meaner side yet, and doesn't want to know what he would do to her once he found out she is Loki's wife.

His _wife_. Lena gulps at the word. It's something she never thought would describe her, especially not so soon after meeting Loki. But here she is, a grown woman, sitting next to her _husband_.

Lena feels a balloon of pride swell inside of her. Her father was wrong; she can look after herself. She's strong.

She looks sideways at Loki, and sees that he is still staring into space. He must be thinking, she guesses, as she can practically hear the cogs in his mind turning.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, until the lady from the hall, the one who seemed to plead with Odin, walks into the courtyard.

Loki, of course, does not react, so Lena tries to think of excuses of why they are here. She puts her right hand over her left one, to cover it.

Sif sees Loki and the girl, and breathes a sigh of relief to herself. She's been searching this palace from top to bottom for nigh on six hours, looking for one, or both, of these two.

She walks towards the bench on which the pair sit, but is taken aback slightly by the body language of the girl. It's defensive, almost, afraid. Sif blinks, but keeps on walking.

Lena looks down at her shoes as the lady approaches. Yes, she will admit it, she's scared. This lady holds herself so elegantly, and an air of importance seems to radiate off her. She's sure, if this lady finds out about the wedding, and tells Odin, that Odin will believe her.

And that is definitely what Lena does not want right now. She memorises the stitching on her left shoe.

Sif stops just before the girl, after seeing that Loki is in one of his thinking moods, and in no position to talk. She should have checked here sooner. Of course Loki would come here after his father refused to let him marry the girl; Sif saw the look in Loki's eyes, and knew he wasn't going to back down easily, and would of course come to this place to sit, and plan.

The girl looks sadder than she did in the hall, for ova vinous reasons. Sif remembers when she pleaded with Odin. Sif should have prepared a better argument. She was just laughed at. At least, she thinks, I tried, unlike the others. She doesn't blame them though. They tried to protest when Thor was told not to marry Jane, and were thrown in the dungeons. Sif wonders why _she_ wasn't arrested. Probably because she's a girl, Sif thinks unhappily. The courts of Asgard are better than they were, but still they are pretty sexist. She will have to deal with that soon. Sure, she doesn't want to be in the dungeons, but she doesn't want to stay out because of her gender.

It's a miracle Odin didn't realise that Loki would come here., and have this place crawling with guards. Or maybe he just doesn't care. Sif is also surprised that Odin hasn't had the girl arrested. He's arrested people for lesser crimes than wanting to marry his son. Then again, could be the awful sexism coming into play.

"I'm not a child." Lena states as Sif draws near. Sif stops around a metre away from bench, and blinks again. She frowns in confusion.

"Of course." She says, as though it is obvious. "I never thought you were."

Lena finds the courage to look up at Sif.

"Yes, you do. You referred to me as 'girl' several times over the past minute or two." She glares at her, trying not to flinch. Why do these Asgardians have to be so damn regal? All of them!

Sif opens her mouth, then closes it again when she loses the words. She hasn't spoken, only thought. Another terrible thought occurs to her. What if... This girl...

Lena nods.

"Yes, I'm a telepath."

Sif loses her posture slightly as she sags, feeling the weight of the girl's pain. Sif didn't have to be a telepath to know what all those in the hall were thinking of the girl, and if the girl could hear all those thoughts, well, no wonder she looks so sad and scared. But surely she heard Sif's thought as well, Sif's thoughts which beloved firmly that the girl should marry Loki if that's what they wanted.

"Yes, those thoughts did help." Lena mutters. Then she speaks slightly louder. "But you still think I'm a girl, a child."

Sif frowns again, and tries to stand up tall.

"Well," she says. "How old are you?" She says it almost like a challenge.

Lena raises an eyebrow.

"Twenty two."

Sif stifles a laugh. She _is_ a child.

"Barely a toddler by Asgardian standards, I'm afraid." Sif informs the girl in front of her, but kindly. She grins slightly, but stops when she sees the dark look that crosses the face of... Wait , what was her name again?

"My name is Eleanor." Lena snaps. "How old are you, if you are considered an adult? These words are most certainly laced with challenge. Lena feels her temper snapping slightly.

Sif laughs.

"1786." She tells Eleanor, laughing again when she sees her mouth drop open.

"Okay." Lena says. "You win." She shuffles up on the bench, leaving a space big enough for Sif to sit. Sif smiles, and sits. Lena feels as though she has found a friend in Sif.

"What are you going to do now?" Sif asks, and Lena can see the real concern in her eyes. Sif has been meaning to ask this for a while, and is slightly worried about what the answer might be. She is fond of Loki, and wants him to be happy. And Eleanor seems pretty nice.

"Please," Lena says as she ponders her answer, "call me Lena." Sif laughs. She doesn't think she's is ever going to get used to the fact that Lena can read her mind. Odin was wrong, Lenaisnt a normal mortal. In ways, she is more powerful than some Asgardians.

Lena stays silent for a few moments. Honestly, she has no idea what she is going to do.

"I don't know." She tells Sif, as she feels she can trust her. Sif smiles reassuringly.

"Don't worry. I know this man." She gestures to Loki. "He comes here when he wants to think, and that look, the disconnected ness, is a sign he's thinking. He will come up with something."

Lena nods, and looks down at her hands.

"I just don't want him to be upset when Odin realises what he's done. He obviously cares about his father, whatever happens between us."

Sif frowns in confusion.

"What has he done?" She asks.

In reply, Lena lifts her right hand off her left. Sif claps a hand over her mouth and gasps.

"I..." Lena stutters, feeling tears prick her eyes, as she acknowledges what she's most afraid of. "I don't want to ruin a relationship that has lasted centuries for one that will last decades. When I am dead, Loki will still be here, with no one. Odin was right about one thing. I have no place in Asgard." She turns her head away from Sif, who takes her hand.

"No." Sif says confidently. "Odin will understand. And whilst you are a princess of Asgard, you will always have a place here."

Lena tries hard to believe her. Silence falls between the two women.

Suddenly, Loki stands up, smiling, his eyes alive with energy. He does not notice the subdued emotions of the women, and his eyes completely ignore Sif,resting only on Lena.

"I have an idea!" He tells her excitedly, missing the miserable emotions radiating off his wife. "There is a castle, down in the south of Asgard, which technically, I own."

Lena frowns.

"But Odin said I could stay here." She doesn't want to leave Sif, if she's honest. She's found a friend, and she doesn't want to lose her. She gets a feeling the next few weeks are going to be a bit tough, no matter what Loki says. Also, she doesn't want the same sense of guilt she got when leaving Clint to come if she leaves Sif. They may have just met, but Lena likes Sif.

"I know Lena, but isn't Odin going to notice the ring on your finger?" A hint of tiredness creeps into his voice, but he keeps smiling.

"I could take it off." Lena says quietly, fiddling with the said object. It glitters too much for soe,one like her, it's too valuable and precious for a highly trained fighter. She never really understood what people meant when they said marriage was a new beginning, but she now she thinks she does. Lena is saying goodbye to the fighter, hello to the beloved princess and wife. She shudders inwardly at the thought of being a princess. So pretentious. But the little girl side of her loves it. She could laugh. Soon she will be twirling around ball rooms, in floaty dresses, elegant and beautiful. As if.

It's Loki's turn to frown. Why is Lena being so stubborn to leave? He thought she wanted to leave, and be as far away from Odin as possible. If not, what was the point of getting married?

Loki repeats the last point to Lena, who stays silent. Lena looks at her hands, then glances quickly at Sif, who is trying not to look awkward. Loki sees this glance towards Sif, and surprised to feel a jolt of jealousy hit him.

Lena doesn't want to leave because of _Sif_? Loki could scream. He threw away everything for her! His father, his reputation, everything. And she wants to stay where he thought she least wanted to be because of Sif, who she has known for ten minutes?

Lena picks up on these angry thoughts, and her head snaps up.

"No, Loki. It's not like that. Of course I'll come with you." She smiles weakly, and her heart lifts when Loki smiles back, and his thoughts focus on happier things. She feels a pang of guilt for making Loki feel like that, but it's okay now, she tells herself. As if it was that easy to let things go. Yet another of her many faults.

She stands. "What are we waiting for?" She asks, her voice unnecessarily chirpy. She plasters on a smile, and takes Loki's arm. He smiles. Lena turns her head to face Sif, who is still sitting on the bench, an uncertain look on her face. Lena knows that Sif is suspicious of her sudden agreement to Loki's proposition.

Sif tries to smile for Lena. She's not sure if her happiness is genuine at the moment, but she knows, and hopes, that one day, this girl will be happy.

Loki leads Lena away. He feels hope.


	12. Chapter 12- Ice

Ice

A/N hello again :-)

Despite the fact that Odin said that Gaia would stay with her, Lena is still surprised when Gaia appears just before she and Loki are due to leave. What surprises her even more is that Gaia is holding a chest of clothes, and wearing a thick cloak.

Gaia holds out the clock draped over her arm to Lena.

"Here, my lady. We will be travelling up high, and it will get cold." She says businesslike, ignoring Lena's confused protests and walking over to talk to Loki.

Lena catches Gaia's arm, forcing her to look at her, but not in an aggressive way.

"Are you coming with us?" She asks, a hopeful tone to her voice. Gaia smiles.

"Of course, my lady." She bows slightly, still smiling, and continues towards Loki. Lena pulls the cloak round her shoulders, and looks up to the skies. Gaia said they were travelling up high. If so, then why is Loki saddling a trio of thoroughbred horses? She frowns.

A thought strikes her, and she blinks. They aren't _flying_ horses, are they? A kind of giddy delight takes over her for a second. _Flying horses? How awesome! _Thelittle girl part of her squeals excitedly. The other half of her frowns. _Composure_, _Richards_, _composure_. Then she frowns again, sadly this time. She's not a Richards anymore, and she's not sure if she's entirely happy about it, when she thinks too hard.

Then she looks over at her husband, who smiles encouragingly, and she feels alright again. She's happily married, she knows that.

She walks quickly over to Loki, still eyeing the horses uncertainly. He's currently in conversation with Gaia, and both of them are whispering. Loki notices her approaching and looks up, finishing his conversation with Gaia.

Gaia smiles the knowing smile that never seems to be far from her face, and walks towards the nearest horse.

"My lord, I will make sure the port is ready." She climbs on the horse with unimagined grace.

Loki smiles.

"Thank you, Gaia." Gaia rides off, quickly, out of the courtyard.

Lena turns to Loki.

"Where is she going?" She asks, watching Gaia until she vanishes out of sight.

"To the port."

"Port? What port?" Lena looks around her.

"The port with the flying boats that will take us to the castle." Loki replies, as though this was obvious. Lena laughs, and claps her hands together.

"Oh, it's the _boats _that fly. I was rather hoping it was the horses." Lena giggles, blushing when she sees Loki's astounded face.

"Flying horses? Are you mad?" Loki says incredulously, but laughing slightly. "This is Asgard, not the land of the fairies!"

Lena doubles over, laughing more at Loki's reaction than at the actual idea of flying horses.

"This feels like fairy land to me!" She laughs, and Loki just looks at her.

"But you can't seriously think we have flying horses?" He states.

Lena nods, and Loki just shakes his head in mock disappointment. He stares at his laughing wife for a few moments, then looks at the sky. A red balloon is flying there. He smiles. The balloon was Gaia's signal that they could come, and it was safe. But it won't be safe for long.

"Come on, Lena. We need to go." A serious look flashes over his face, as he is worried. They need to move fast, before Odin noticed, or Heimdall notices and tells Odin. To be honest though, Loki thinks, Heimdall has probably already noticed. Loki just hopes he is in Heimdall's good favour enough for Heimdall to turn the other way, at least until they are safely gone. If Odin finds out, he will be furious. So it's best they leave quickly.

Loki mutters a small prayer under his breath, addressed to no one in particular, and pulls a protesting Lena towards the horses. They clamber on, after Lena reads Loki's worried mind and relaxes how important this is. She stays silent after that.

They ride out the courtyard, ignoring the strange looks they receive, focusing on the road ahead. Once out of the castle grounds, Loki's horse pulls slightly in front of Lena's, leading it towards the port.

This isn't too bad, Lena thinks, considering I've never ridden a horse before. She still finds it a bit frightening though. These horses go very fast, and she's not sure that horses go this fast on Earth. She smiles smugly. They _are_ super horses after all.

The hooves make quite a lot of noise on the cobbled streets, and Lena notices lots of faces at windows, and people coming out of their houses to see what all the noise is. She catches fragments of their conversations as she rides past.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know, but she looks scared."

Lena puts a determined frown on her face.

"Kids, go back inside. Stay away from the prince. He's dangerous."

Lena frowns, totally forgetting what Loki did to New York, confused as to why he's dangerous.

Eventually they reach a corner of the city right on the edge, with few buildings and fewer people. There is however, a large glass building filled with golden boats, all of which are adorned with wings. These must be the flying boats.

Outside the building, stands Gaia, who stands between the sleeping bodies of two guards.

The horses stop, and Loki dismounts, then comes over to Lena to help her off. Together they run over to Gaia, who smiles, and receives a smile from Loki.

"Congratulations Gaia. Even faster acting than last time." Loki tells her, and Lena frowns.

"Are they okay?" Lena asks worriedly, bending down, and checking the steady pulse of the nearest guard.

"Of course." Loki says. "Just asleep, that's all. Gaia knocked them out with a sedative she bakes into her world famous chocolate cake."

Gaia smiles proudly, and takes Lena's arm.

"Come, my lady. We must depart."

Loki follows them into the building, and soon they are climbing into the boat nearest the edge of the large window facing out onto the clear skies. Gaia seats Lena down in the boat, and then sits next to her. Loki stands at the end, and takes what Lena thinks resembles a massive joystick from the video games she used to play when she was a kid. She sighs, and Loki smiles.

"We're going now. It's okay, Lena." She nods, and looks out at the skies. Loki moves the stick to the left, and up they rise, and out the window.

Lena gasps with a new and sudden experience, one of floating, but not by her will. It's different to when she conjured the force fields to carry her, and she's not sure she likes flying this way.

When they reach a steady altitude, she stands up. Loki raises his eyebrows, confused.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm going to fly alongside. This boat makes me feel a bit sick." Lena says, smiling. Loki laughs.

"Go ahead. But be careful." He grins, as Lena shuts her eyes, concentrating, going through the same procedures as she did on top of Stark tower.

Just before she steps onto the force field, she opens her eyes to look at Loki, remembering that strange night. And when she looks back at him, she knows he remembers it too.

When they arrive at the castle, Lena is over the moon with joy. It's beautiful, beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Perhaps even more so than the gardens of Odin's palace. Lena giggles as she thinks this, feeling a tad rebellious, as though thinking this was against some kind of law. But no guards swoop down on her, so she just smiles and runs through the halls.

"I'm going to go explore!" She tells Loki happily. Loki smiles.

"Okay." He laughs. "Don't get lost, though."

"Me? Never!" Lena exclaims, knowing full well that she lost her sense of direction years ago, and that it hasn't turned up yet.

"I'll be in here." Loki says, pointing to a room on his right. He watches happily as Lena disappears round the corner, and then goes into the room he indicated.

The room has a high ceiling, and is filled with a simple desk and chair, with a few bookcases and cabinets lining the golden walls. Long shafts of light flow into the room through the window which looks out onto the expansive gardens. Loki sits at the desk, and twirls round on the chair.

He sits there for a while, lost in his happy thoughts, until there is a knock at the door. He turns, grinning, thinking of all the things he wants to say to Lena, and to ask her what she has found.

His smiles falters slightly when Gaia enters, holding a piece of folded golden paper, sealed with green wax. The seal of Odin.

Loki takes the paper from her wordlessly, with shaking fingers, and doesn't notice when she leaves, shutting the door behind her, a worried look on her face. He turns the paper over in his hands as he walks over to the desk, then places it on the desk and sits down in the chair. The chair doesn't seem so fun to spin on anymore.

He dreads what is coming.

He breaks the seal carefully, and opens the paper. There is little writing on it, only one sentence, written in green ink.

_I know what you have done, and for that you are no longer my son._

The words shoot like ice through Loki as he reads them, freezing him and his heart. The light coming in is no longer as bright, and suddenly this whole thing seems pointless. Why did he do this? Why did he upset his father in this way?

His questions are answered when Lena walks through the door, and for a few moments, he can ignore the words, because he has Lena, and that's all that matters.

Lena sees the broken look on Loki's face, and walks over, her face a picture of worried curiosity. Loki can't find the words, and instead just hands her the paper wordlessly. As she reads it, her face paling, Loki puts his head in his hands and begins to sob.

Lena returns the paper to the desk, and hugs Loki to her.

"It's okay." She whispers. "It's okay."

The ice melts slightly.

"It will be alright."

Loki remembers how angry he is, and then the ice refreezes, taking over his whole body and heart. How could it ever be okay? A day will come when Lena is dead, and he's alive, and he is alone, without her, and without his father.

He pulls away from her.

"No." He, or something like him, snarls. He's possesed by the anger that was held back by the walls built by Lena's comforting words. "It's not okay." Then magic floods out of him, magic which throws everything around him backwards, smashing into the walls, including Lena. She lies on the floor, blood pooling around her from a cut on the back of her head.

Loki melts for a moment, and runs over to her.

"Lena." He whispers. "Lena." He prays that she's alive, alive so he can make things right, he can't lose his father and her. Please let her be okay. He doesn't think he could live with the guilt of killing her because of two seconds of rage.

Lena's eyes flicker open.

"Get away from me." She snarls, getting up slowly, despite how dizzy she feels. She shoves Loki away, and walks towards the door. She walks out of it, then collapses into Gaia, who doesn't question, just carries her away.

Loki freezes, and he knows that this ice is nothing to do with the fact that he's a Frost Giant. This ice is different, it is ice of hate, of fear and of anger. This ice is all consuming and frightening, and he can't fight it.

And so, sinking in despair and guilt, Loki freezes.


	13. Chapter 13- White walls

White walls

A/N so, I'm going on holiday for a while next week, and I dont know when I am going to have time to post, so updates might be a little irregular(sorry). I will post as many chapters as I can though! Soon I will be posting chapter one of the sequel to Miss Fantastic, and it will be called "Walls of Ivy", and it will be X-Men DOFP with a twist. Thanks for reading this story, and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Marvel

Lena wakes up in a dark room, with a massive pain in her head. She's confused and dazed, and for a moment she doesn't remember why her head hurts. She sits up, and pain hits her so hard, like a solid brick wall, that she has to lie back down again. This doesn't stop the pain, only lessens it. She tries to concentrate on something.

She counts to ten, then recites the Periodic Table, then what stars made up certain constellations.

Giving her mind something to do helps, and soon she feels better. That is, until she remembers why it hurts so much.

It happened so fast, and she only gets around ten seconds of memory which flash before her eyes again and again. It plays over and over, like a record stuck on repeat, and she finds herself crying, not believing this memory but also knowing it is correct the whole time.

Loki would never do that.

You have always trusted your mind. Sometimes, it has been the only thing you could trust.

But he's my husband, he loves me. Somebody has been messing with my head.

You are the one who messes with heads.

Eventually, Lena has to give in, and grudgingly accepts the fact that it happened, as much as it breaks her heart to do so. She still doesn't know why he did what he did though.

She focuses on something else now, finding out what the hell is going on. Lena sits up, ignoring the tidal waves of pain screaming at her to stay where she is. She stands up, and at first her legs don't take her weight, and she collapses to the floor, which is cold. She stands up again, and her shaking legs manage to hold her, and she takes gentle steps towards anything. She holds her arm out in front of her, like a zombie.

Eventually, her fingers touch a door handle, and Lena could cry in relief. She has to grab it with both hands to turn it, but she does, forcefully, and the door swings open. Shafts of light crash into her, and she lifts up an arm to shield her eyes whilst they adjust to the sudden brightness.

Lena hears someone outside the door standing up, and she shuts the door again, afraid of who it might be, and what they might do to her. By now, it could be Odin's guards, ready to arrest her. Or worse, it could be Loki. She'd never thought, ever, that she would take being arrested over seeing her husband, whom she loves. No, it's not past tense yet. Lena is pretty sure she still loves him, despite her common sense screaming at her not to. It takes more than ten seconds to dissuade a stubborn human girl like Lena.

Some might call her a fool for this, that she still loves a man who threw her against a wall. And yeah, it's stupid, Lena knows that, but she gets a feeling that the person who threw her against the wall wasn't Loki. That's a stupid hope too, she supposes. But she's always been the hopeful type.

The door opens again, and Lena sucks in a deep breath. But it's only Gaia, and Lena lets out the breath in relief, and practically falls into the arms of Gaia, who just smiles sadly, and supports the weight of the small girl.

Gaia sits Lena on the chair she was waiting for her on.

"My lady?" She asks worriedly. Lena's eyes flicker open again, although slightly shut due to the light.

"Yes?" She says, her voice stronger than she thought it would be. Gaia smiles sadly.

"Are you feeling better?" She asks, looking around her for any signs of Loki. Whatever happens next, Gaia will try and keep this girl away from Loki, even if he is her husband.

Lena laughs.

"No." She says honestly, and Gaia bits her lip. This is the first time Lena has seen Gaia unsettled, and it's a bit scary to her. Gaia has been a rock that she can depend on, and seeing her worried scares her to pieces.

"My Lady, once you have gathered your strength, you must get away from here! Use your powers, and return to the city. From there, go to Heimdall and he will open the Bifrost for you to return to Earth. My Lady?" Gaia talks quickly, but notices Lena is not listening.

Lena is start behind Gaia, her face drained of all colour, unable to move. She is so scared.

Loki stands behind Gaia, a nasty grin on his face, staring straight at Lena. Gaia turns, and follows Lena's gaze. Gaia could kick something. How is she going to get Lena away now?!

Loki turns to face Gaia.

"Lena will not be leaving this castle. She stays with _me_ , her husband. It is not up to you to decide that." Loki steps forward, menacingly, spitting the words. "I suggest you leave." Loki finishes, before grabbing Lena by the colour of her shirt. "And you, my friend, will stay here, with me, where I can look after you."

Gaia doesn't know what to do now. Even if she warns Odin, Odin will not care. He'll say it was Lena's own fault.

Loki begins to drag Lena away, and Lena looks to Gaia in terror. She sends Gaia a message in her head.

_New_ _York_. Then she sends an image of Stark Tower. _Clint_ _Barton_.

Gaia is surprised, but not overwhelming so, by the voice in her head. New York. Stark Tower. Clint Barton. Gaia smiles to herself. Looks like she can help after all.

Then she runs away, as fast as she can. Time moves faster in Asgard than it does on Earth, and if she spends too much time anywhere it could be too late for this girl.

Loki drags Lena down a corridor on his left, and then opens a door, and throws her in. He locks the door behind her, and then another blast of his magic sends her flying against the walls again.

When she comes to, she takes in the room around her. The walls are white. The ceiling is white. The floors are white.

The only thing in the room, apart from her, is a stool, which is painted white. The only colour is the mark on the floor behind her from the blood that trickled from the cut on her forehead.

She lifts her fingers up to touch her forehead, and she feels slightly faint when her fingers come away red, dripping red blood.

The walls close in on her, then open and close again, a constant loop of dizziness. Everything begins to spin, and she blacks out.

She wakes, and crawls into a corner of the room, shutting her eyes against the rotating and spinning walls which hypnotise her, threatening to turn her crazy. She cries out, and sobs for days on end, sleep fractured by nightmares, days fractured by pain.

Every few days, Loki must walks by, because she is thrown against the wall again. The pain is never ending, and she's amazed she is still alive. She's not entirely sure if she is still sane though.

Overtime, the walls are stained, stained with red smears which distress her even more. The only food that gets in comes every few hours, a sandwich and a glass of water. The sandwich is always cheese. Lena hates cheese. But she eats it anyway, she has no choice.

It is a nice sentiment, she thinks, Loki still making sure I'm fed. sweet, he wants to torture me but keep me alive. I wonder why that is.

She talks to herself a lot, and also yells and screams his much she hates Loki, just in case he hears. She doesn't know how it's helping, but it makes her feel a bit better.

One of the things that Lena hates most about this situation is the fact that she can do noting. She's too weak, and has no energy to do anything other than cry and scream. Also, she's waiting for Clint to save her. And although she will be glad to see him, she doesn't know how he is going to react to what happened to her. She knows he will blame himself. Lena doesn't like relying on other people. It makes her feel useless. But she supposes she has no other choice.

So there she stays, in a constant loop of being conscious and unconscious.

And she has been counting what she think might be days, based on the pattern on the meals.

630 of them.


	14. Chapter 14- Realisation

Realisation

A/N so this is next weeks chapter, but I'm posting it now! Anyways, I hope you like it! After this there are two more chapters of this story, and then I start the sequel which I explained in my last authors note. Thanks for reading and please review!

Gaia runs away from where Loki is dragging Lena away. She knows she has to be fast in what she does next. She repeats the message Lena sent her in her head, a bit paranoid that she is going to forget the place and name Lena asked for.

She switches into autopilot mode as she flies the boat away from the castle, as her mind is on other things, like checking behind her just in case Loki has changed his mind about letting her away unscathed. Does Loki suspect she is rushing for help? Gaia doesn't know, and hopes not. Who knows what he would do to her.

Gaia thinks she can hear screaming coming from the castle, but when she looks back the castle is miles away. She doesn't think sound could travel that far, so assumes the screaming is a trick of the mind. Something in your mind is difficult to ignore though, and Gaia tries her best to carry on as if it isn't there. At least it reminds her of what she has to do.

Her stomach unclenches in relief when she sees the golden lights of the city on the horizon. She doubles her speed, and then remembers Odin's warning to Loki. Odin will probably want to take her in for questioning, so she guides the boat round to the back entrance of the city, and pulls her hood up over her face. Not the best disguise ever, but it will have to do. Luckily her face isn't too well known in the city, as she didn't grow up here and has only ever stayed in the palace during her time spent here.

She rushes through the streets, keeping her head down and ignoring all the people who try to talk to her. Apart from one, Lady Sif, who stops her just before she reaches the Bifrost.

"Gaia." Sif calls, after seeing the small woman duck away into the crowds. Sif follows her, and easily catches up with her, and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Gaia." She repeats, quieter this time, as Gaia has made it pretty clear by her cloak and resistance to talk that she doesn't want to be found. Sif tips her head in the direction of an alley on her left, and she sees a muscle tighten in Gaia's jaw, but Gaia follows her nonetheless.

"Yes, my lady?" Gaia says, almost tiredly, looking over her shoulder to see if they were followed.

"Why all the secrecy?" Sif asks, which is currently top of the long list of questions she needs to ask Gaia. Gaia sighs, and pulls down her hood.

"I need to get to Midgard." She explains. "To help Lady Laufeyson." Gaia winces as she says her title. "And I don't think Odin would take kindly to that."

Sif bites her lip.

"No, he wouldn't." She blinks. "Is Lena okay?"

Gaia pales, and shakes her head. Sif feels a rush of sadness, and hits her forehead with her hand.

"Loki didn't take Odin's dismissal well." Gaia says quietly. Sif takes in these words, and hits her forehead again.

"Why did I let her go with him?" Sif asks no one in particular. "I knew what he was like."

Gaia takes her hand.

"My Lady, do not do this to yourself." She says soothingly, her natural caring state taking over again. Sif smiles slightly, thinking how that is easier said than done.

She remembers something else Gaia said.

"Why are you heading to Midgard?" Sif frowns in confusion.

"Shortly before..." Gaia loses the words. Sif doesn't particularly want to know before what. "The lady asked me to find a man called Clint Barton, who resides in New York. She believes he can help." Gaia swallows, and realises the time is slipping away from her.

Sif opens her mouth, then smiles slightly.

"Yes, he can. He's an Avenger, a friend of Thor's."

Gaia curtsies.

"You must excuse me, Lady Sif. I must leave for Midgard immediately." She puts up her hood again, and turns away. Sif catches her shoulder, and raises her eyebrows.

"You really think I'm not coming?" She laughs. "I'm coming. And anyway, how were you planning to get Heimdall to let you leave?" Gaia frowns at Sif's words. She didn't think of that.

Gaia sees no other option than to let Sif come. Anyway, she will be a useful ally.

"Quickly, my Lady." She says, and the two women exit the alleyway, heading for the Bifrost.

Heimdall raises his eyebrows when Sif and Gaia walk in. Not that they can see that of course, due to his helmet.

Sif holds herself tall, like she always does, a fire of molten determination and defiance alight in her eye, as always. Heimdall smiles. He feels even if he denies Lady Sif the access to Midgard, she will find a way to get there anyway. She's never been one to let others boss her around.

Gaia, though, he's suprised to see, as he never imagined her as one to defy her king and take matters into her own hands. By the way she looks around slightly nervously, she's quite suprised she's doing this as well.

Heimdall steps down, and decides to address Gaia first.

"Why would you want to go to Midgard, Gaia?" He asks, titling his head slightly like a curious owl. He sees a flicker of determination cross over Gaia's face.

"To help somebody."

"Against the wishes of your king?" Heimdall challenges. "I thought you served your king."

"I serve whoever is in need." Gaia snaps, trying to ignore the amused look on the face of Heimdall.

"And you Lady Sif?" Heimdall turns his head to face her. "Why do you want to leave?" He inquires, his voice none of his emotions away.

Sif smiles slightly, and then frowns, jutting her chin forward confidently.

"Does it matter?" She asks, folding her arms, and raising her eyebrows.

Heimdall shakes his head, laughing slightly inwardly. Typical Sif behaviour.

"No, not at all." He opens the Bifrost. "Good luck to you." He says quietly, meaning the words with all his heart. He prays Odin will not find out.

The women step towards the rainbow light, each experimenting varying degrees of nerves. Gaia is nervous about what is immediately in front of her. She's never left Asgard before, and the whole idea of going to another realm, honestly, it terrifies her. But as she told Heimdall, she serves whoever is in need.

Unlike Gaia, Sif has left Asgard before, and doesn't fear that. Instead, she's nervous about what hasn't even crossed Gaia's mind yet, the fact that she's meant to somehow persuade a mortal assassin to come to Asgard, then actually get him to Asgard and not get him or herself arrested in the process. She hopes Thor will be there, to verify that she's telling the truth. She bits her lip.

Sif turns to Gaia, who is also biting her lip. Sif smiles, or tries to.

"Let's go." She says, nodding solemnly. She turns to Heimdall and thanks him unsmilingly.

Then the light swallows them, and they fly.

Gaia can feel her stomach dropping, down into the infinite blackness beneath her. She gasps, and tries to grab onto something, but her fingers slip through the rainbow light, and she grabs Sif's arm instead. In her terror, she forgets how distinguished Sif is in Asgard, and that she defiantly shouldn't be grabbing her arm. Gaia lets go, and gives Sif an apologetic look.

Sif turns to look at Gaia, when she takes her arm, and laughs when Gaia lets go, looking guilty. She remembers her first time using the Bifrost; she had never been so terrified. Sif takes again hand, and smiles, then turns her head to face the approaching planet.

"Don't worry. I know it's scary." Sif tells her, and Gaia glares at her. It being scary is a significant understatement. She widens her eyes as the blue and green planet approaches.

Then her feet touch the ground, and the soft grass of Central Park. Gaia's knees give in, and she sits on the floor, her mouth in a perfect 'o'. Sif blows the air out her cheeks, and looks around her. She puts her hands on her hips.

"This doesn't look like New York." Gaia tells her, gesturing to the trees surrounding them. Sif grins.

"Look up above the trees." Gaia does as Sif tells her, and claps her hand over her mouth. Skyscrapers are visible over the trees, tall and majestic.

Sif leads Gaia through the park until they come to the gates, which they walk through. The change is distinguishable immediately.

They have come from the relative calm of the park to the excited and ordered chaos that is New York City. Gaia steps back as a bus whizzes past, as does Sif.

Sif takes a deep breath, and then turns to Gaia.

"You know where this place is, right?" She says, her voice shaking slightly. Gaia could laugh at the totally new situation she's faced with. Lady Sif, scared. Gaia nods. Looks like it's her turn to take charge.

"Okay. Can you see it?" Sif asks.

Gaia turns in a circle, craning her neck to the sky. For the first 270 degrees, she doesn't see anything. Then she does see it, Stark Tower, tall and bright. Just like the image Lena sent her.

"There!" She tells Sif, raising her arm to point. "Over there!" There's an excited layer to her voice, and Sif catches it too, grinning widely when she looks where Gaia is pointing.

"Quick." Sif says, pulling Gaia across the road determinedly. A horn beeps as a truck comes driving towards them, fast, lights on and horns blaring complaining sound. The two women freeze, unsure of what to do.

At the last minute, a man grabs them and pulls them out the road.

"What were you doing?" He asks, looking at them worriedly. They stare at him, shocked. He rolls his eyes. "Anyone would think you've never crossed a road before."

Sif and Gaia fake a laugh, looking at the man warily. He sees their clothing, and frowns. Then Sif speaks up.

"Can you tell us how to get to Stark Tower?" She inquires, and of the man was looking at them strangely before its nothing compared to the look he's giving them now.

He pauses before answering.

"Go down the street there, down that avenue, take a left and you are there." He tells them, smiling slightly. They smile kindly back at him.

"Thank you." Gaia says, and then they walk off, following the man's directions as quickly as they can.

When they reach the Tower, they go through a large set of glass doors, before being faced with a reception desk. They both frown, and look at each other, confused, as the woman at the desk gives them the same look.

"Can I help you?" The woman sitting across from them asks uncertainly. Boy, she's dealt with some strange things in her time, but this is new. She recognises them as Asgardians by the way they dress and the completely bewildered look on their faces, but she's lost as to what they want.

Sif swallows before speaking.

"We'd like to see Clint Barton." She says confidently, sticking her chin forward, as if daring the woman to contradict her. The woman, however, doesn't.

"Of course. Just give me a sec." She says, then picks up the phone on her left.

The woman's answer confuses Gaia. What is a 'sec'? And how does Gaia give it to her?

"Mr Stark." The woman says into the phone.

Gaia and Sif hear a voice answer.

"Yes, Hill?"

"There's two Asgardians here to see the Hawk."

There's a pause on the other end of the line.

"Okay. Send them up."

Hill puts down the phone and smiles, pressing a button that opens the lift across the room.

"Go on up." She says kindly, and Sif and Gaia get into the box uncertainly. Hill has to stifle a laugh as they press buttons, then jump as the doors shut, and the elevator carries them up.

Upstairs, Tony relays to the others what Hill told him.

"Asgardians?" Thor asks. "For the Hawk?" He looks at Clint questioningly. Clint shrugs.

"I don't know any Asgardians." He says, and paces the room with his hands in his pockets. Tony rocks backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet, obviously nervous.

Thor stands closest to the lift, ready to greet the Asgardians.

Silence falls upon the occupants of the room.

The lift doors open, and Sif and Gaia stagger out, making everyone jump. They look as suprised as everyone else at where they have ended up. Sif's tense face relaxes slightly when she sees Thor.

"Thor." She gasps.

"Lady Sif." He nods, "Gaiathryn." Gaia curtsies. "What brings you to Midgard?"

Sif ignores him, and looks around at the others.

"Which one of you is Clint Barton?" She asks, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. Clint raids his hand stepping forward. "Do you know Lena Laufeyson?" Sif asks.

All the colour drains from Clint's face.

He ignores the fact that Sif called her Laufeyson. He will deal with that later.

"Yes. What's happened?" He says quickly, taking fast steps towards the two women. They both look down, biting their lips. They're unsure of how to explain what has happened to a man who clearly cares about her deeply.

"She's in a bit of trouble with Loki." Gaia says quietly; the effect on Clint is immediate. He throws his hands in the air, and walks over to a wall, banging his head on it.

Sif and Gaia look at him worriedly.

Natasha steps forward, addressing Gaia directly. She can tell that Gaia is the one who really knows what is going on. It's in the way she looks the floor, but is itching to step forward.

"What happened?"

"They got married." Gaia says, ignoring Clint's unhappy groans at her words. "And Odin told Loki he wasn't his son anymore. The loss drove him mad, mad enough to hurt her."

"How much? How much did he hurt her?!" Clint yells. Gaia winces.

"Enough."

Oh _god_. Clint thinks. This is all my fault. He sits down, his head in his hands, and begins to shake, still muttering to himself. Why did he let her go? Why?

Sif watches him sadly, then remembers that this mission is time sensitive.

"Please, Clint." She says, and he looks up. "Time moves faster in Asgard than it does here. She could have been there months, perhaps years, by now."

Clint looks at her, and for a moment he's lost for words.

Then he swears.


	15. Chapter 15- Explosions

Explosions

A/N Hello everyone! One more chapter after this one (sad face) and then I start 'Walls of Ivy' (yay!). Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!

Clint grabs his bow and two quivers of arrows without talking to anyone. Talking would slow him down, and that's something he defiantly needs to avoid. The only words he speaks are quietly hurrying along his friends, who seem nearly as silent and worried as him.

Thor is the only one really making any noise, asking Gaia and Sif to retell the story of exactly what happened. Thor's heart is telling him that Loki can't have really done this, but his faith in his brother is dwindling rapidly as Sid and Gaia inform him of all that has happened. When Gaia describes Loki's madness and rage just before he sent her away, Thor steps back, and puts his head in his hands. He doesn't want to believe it, but it appears he has no choice.

Even Tony is quiet, and the room seems kind of empty without all his witty, sarcastic remarks. If he was in a good mood, Clint would find this funny, and tease Tony about it being a relief that his seeming endless supply of annoying comments had dried out. But he's not.

Thor leads the group to Central Park, despite the fact that they know the city better than he does. As he quite rightly pointed out, they are going to _ his _realm, so therefore what he says goes. Nobody could be bothered to argue anyway.

They've been on life threatening missions before, missions with a lot at stake, but this one feels different. Maybe it's because it's one of them in trouble, and it's more personal. They aren't looking forward to it.

Sif pushes through the thick trees, and feels a bubble of anxiety inside her pop when she spots the burn marks made by her and Gaia's entrance to Earth. One step down, lots to go.

The Asgardians assemble themselves in a group, and the uncertain Midgardians copy them. Thor looks up, and nods at an invisible person.

Clint takes a deep breath. He's not sure how they are getting to Asgard, and it doesn't seem immediately obvious. He checks his watch nervously, even though he checked it ten seconds ago, and looks up at the sky.

Tony hopes his suit works in Asgard.

They are swallowed by rainbow light. And if Steve thought the modern world had ceased to amaze and surprise him, he was wrong. This is terrifying.

On day 657, Lena notices that she's regaining her lost strength. If her maths is correct( which it usually is), Loki hasn't thrown her for a week. Her cuts are beginning to heal, and her head has stopped spinning. It aches, but not as much as it did.

Lena makes a quiet, harsh sound that slightly resembles a laugh. She doesn't think anything could match how much her head used to hurt.

She feels lost thoughts and memories form in her head, filling her up with relief. All those blows to the head, and nothing lost. Well, maybe something was lost, but she hasn't noticed it yet, so it obviously wasn't important( she hopes).

She remembers her name (Eleanor Laufeyson, although this makes her wince slightly), she remembers her birthday (25th of April) and she remembers why she's here( because she married a madman who locked her up in another world). She remembers years of memories; training sessions with Clint, coffee mornings with her mum, and even meeting Charles Xavier in that parallel reality and copying his powerful telepathy mutation.

Lena wonders where this reality's Xavier is, and if she'll ever meet him. It's probably unlikely.

She's confused about the sudden stop in Loki's weird magic throws. He still sends in sandwiches, always cheese, and Lena knows when ( when, not if) she gets out of here, she's probably never going to eat another cheese sandwich. So he obviously hasn't forgotten about her.

Maybe his kinder streak has overpowered the mean one slightly, enough to stop him hurting her. Not enough to let her go, of course, but this small hint at the former Loki Lena knew makes her sad. In all this physical pain, she didn't have the time, or the effort, to feel the emotional pain of being heartbroken and betrayed by the man she loved. Now it hits her, after years of waiting, in large waves. She feels as though she is drowning.

Anything made better by the pain lessening in her head is extinguished by the realisation of the true extent of Loki's betrayal.

Lena cries, and it's a sort of out of body experience, as all she can see is her small, thin form curled up against one blood stained wall, sobbing uncontrollably. A loud, seal like sound erupts from her, and she sniffs. She needs to be quiet.

The memory and sensation of the seal like sound plays over and over in her mind, until it's like watching a TV show, and a particularly funny scene which will always make you laugh. Lena laughs, quietly, and to herself, amazed by her newfound weakness which she'd never dreamt she'd have.

Lena laughs, and it's a hollow sound, but this only makes her laugh more. Then she remembers the randomness of the situation, and she laughs more, until there are tears streaming down her face, and for the first time in two years, the tears are from happiness.

She stands up slowly, onto painfully thin legs, which shake slightly. She stretches out her arms to steady herself, leaning her left palm against the wall. Lena looks down at her shoe less feet, and wriggles her toes. She smiles. She can do this.

The grate at the bottom of the door across the room slides open, and a cheese sandwich slides through, followed by a bottle of water, which rolls with such force it comes to rest at Lena's feet. Speak of the devil. Or rather, think of the devil.

Lena picks up the water bottle, and takes careful, slow sips from it. She eats the sandwich slowly, sitting cross legged in the floor, smiling slightly. She imagines herself eating the sandwich on top of a hill in Hyde Park, London, the sun shining and a pack of scones in her cool bag, which is on the rug next to her. Down the hill is her mum, who had to run back to the flat for some butter, and her father is retrieving the frisbee from where he threw it in the tree above their heads.

It's a silly dream, she knows, but it keeps her sane.

After all, picnics are her favourite thing in the world.

When Clint's feet touch the ground, he can't see anything, and he's momentarily confused. Wasn't Asgard meant to be a world of light and colour? Then he realises he must have shut his eyes at some point, too overwhelmed by the view which he was presented with when he was flying through the air.

He opens his eyes, and looks around him. His eyes widen in shock( a good kind though). He knew Thor said Asgard was amazing and whatever, but _this, _this is truly amazing.

He blinks, and looks at the floor. He can't be distracted.

Clint watches as Thor takes a few long strides up to a man dressed in gold holding a large sword. The man bows, and Clint frowns. Oh, of course, he remembers, Thor is a prince. When you put Thor in Midgard, and take away the people who know him, you forget how powerful, regal and important he is. It's like realising that that kid who never got picked for baseball teams is suddenly the worlds best football player.

The man and Thor converse in quiet voices, and then Thor turns back to the assembled group of confused and slightly travel sick Avengers behind him.

The man steps forward.

"I am Heimdall." He introduces himself. Clint and the others nod, not quite sure of how to reply. Thor takes over.

"My friends, it is essential that nobody except Heimdall sees you, and knows of your arrival." He pauses, and takes in the curious looks on their faces. "If my sources are correct, which they are( Sif and Gaia shift uncomfortably) then Odin has banned anyone from going anywhere near Loki, and he has a strong dislike of Midgardians."

Clint sighs and looks down at his feet. He's pretty good at not being seen, as is Natasha, but Tony? Tony likes to be seen.

He gives Tony a look, and to Clint's surprise, Tony nods, his face solemn.

Then they follow an anxious looking Thor out into Asgard, and are quickly led to a large golden boat, which rises up into the air, and flies them away from the golden city beneath them.

On day 664, Lena feels she has enough strength to try and escape. She's been having lots of imaginary picnics, and hasn't been thrown against the walls( Yippee!). She has also formed a mental list of steps which she needs to follow.

1\. Get out the cell.

2\. Hide from Loki.

3\. Find food, shoes and new clothes.

4\. Find a way to contact either Clint or Gaia.

5\. Run away. Very, very, very fast.

She's going to have to hide, and run very fast, because she isn't strong enough to use her invisibility powers. The only things she can use are her telepathy and Human torch powers, which she can use to burn down the door of the cell.

She takes a few steps towards the door, and lifts up her hands in front of her. It takes her a few seconds of hard concentration for them to light up, but she does it, smiling slightly at her small but important achievement.

The door burns easily enough, and soon she's out the cell, breathing in relatively fresh air. The taste of freedom in her mouth is strong, overwhelming, and making her want more. She smiles. Step one complete.

Time to run.

She finds Loki in his study, and she steps through the door cautiously. Lena lets out a long breath and closes her eyes in relief when she sees him asleep, his head racing the wall opposite her, on the desk.

She feels a pang of regret when she sees all the empty bottles surrounding him. Then she dismisses it. He deserves it, doesn't he?

Something her mum always used to tell her swirls in her mind. Two wrongs don't make a right. She's always tried to believe this, and follow this rule, but in is case, it kind of seems difficult.

It still hurts slightly to see him broken like this. It makes her pity him slightly, and finds a hole through the armour which she built around herself to feel nothing for him. Through the hole drips sadness and a tad of understanding, although it's not much. He was broken and confused. Lena pities that.

Then a memory flashes before her eyes, replaying at least ten times as she leans against the door frame.

The hatred and despair in Loki's eyes as he dragged her towards the room. Like he blamed her for something that he'd lost, and could never ever get back.

Then, as she pushes herself off the wall, all pity fades, and the armour reveals itself, determination flooding through her. Along with two years worth of anger.

Lena takes the few strides needed to get to his desk, and then pauses, checking down her mental list, which has been rewritten slightly.

1\. Get out the cell

2\. Find Loki and rip his head off( although not literally)

3\. Find shoes etc

4\. Destroy the castle.

5\. Run away.

She knows that steps two and four are not like her, but for some reason, she doesn't really care. It sets the seal on her getting over Loki, and tells her emotions she doesn't care, and never will again.

She sticks out her chin, and smashes one of the bottles on the table.

This loud noise has the desired effect, and Loki sits up suddenly, panting, green in the face. Looks like he's consumed rather too much alcohol. His drunken eyes widen when they see her, and he reaches out with a grubby arm, as though checking to see if she's there.

Lena steps back, a disgusted look on her face.

"Don't touch me." She says, and Loki nods.

"I suppose that's fair." He tells her sadly, looking back down at the table.

"Yes it bloody well is." She retorts, harsher than she expected. He winces, as does she. How did it come to this? Lena thinks. Well, she knows how, but why is a different matter. She suddenly remembers she never got an explanation as to why she was treated in this way. She's certainly going to get one now.

She never wanted this to happen. Her and Loki, snapping at each other like this. She thought they could be happy, and so did he.

No, Lena, she reprimands herself sternly. You do not care. He's worthless, move on.

"Why did you do it?" Lena asks, her voice slightly softer, but still with a hard edge. Loki blinks, then lets out a breath and sits back. Lena can see he's incredibly drunk, and this is finding honesty in him that would otherwise be buried deep down.

"Honestly?" He asks. Lena nods. No, I want you to tell me it's because you wanted a pet unicorn and I wouldn't let you.

"It's because Odin told me I betrayed him. I couldn't compute that amount of loss, so I blamed it on you. Sorry." He says, and pinches the bridge of his nose.

Lena feels an urge to be somewhere far away from here grow within her. Her desire to destroy Loki has vanished, replaced by a longing for home. She wonders if her parents and Clint are missing her. She hopes so.

"Sorry will never be enough." She replies curtly, and walks away, blinking back tears. She has to leave.

Loki watches her go with a certain sadness. He knows he blew it, his only chance of love, and he's sorry for that as well. But he doesn't try and follow her. He knows that there is no way she could ever forgive him. So he has to let her go. Be happy, he thinks. You deserve it. And she does.

Lena walks down the corridor, down to the storage room. On the way though, she passes the cell. Her feet pause, although her brain is screaming to continue. Something, probably the small part of her that still wants revenge takes over, and her hands light up. She doesn't try to stop herself, and sets fire to the door.

She thinks it's fair, and it destroys painful memories. She turns away from the blaze, and runs quickly down the corridor.

As she runs away, she doesn't notice the puddle of alcohol left by Loki on the floor. When that catches fire ten minutes later, the whole place goes boom. It was Asgardian alcohol, of course, which is way stronger than the Midgardian drinks.

The fires burn.

Clint screams when the castle blows up. Oh no. He makes to scramble over the rocks, screaming Lena's name, but Thor and Steve grab him around the waist, pinning him to the ground.

No. No. No. This is his fault. Oh no.

Clint tucks his head in his hands, and begins to cry. He doesn't care that there are other people watching him, or that he's meant to be a master assassin, he just cries.

He blocks out the sound of the castle burning, of the shouts of the others, of the sound of the river flowing behind him. His best friend is gone, and he was too late to save her.

The guilt is nothing he's ever known before.

And then, it stops.

"Clint!" Somebody yells his name, and it's a voice he recognises. His head snaps up, relief forming, and then he's over the rocks before anyone can stop him. Not that anybody tries, of course. They're too busy taking deep breaths, choking down the grief and replacing it with relief.

Clint sprints the 50 odd metres to Lena as fast as his legs can carry him, as she doesn't look strong enough to move on her own. As soon as he reaches her, enveloping her in a hug, she seems to collapse, drained and tired. Clint is crying again, although from happiness, and so is Lena( tiredness also contributes to her tears).

"Clint." She murmurs. "It's so good to see you." Clint nods, hugging her tighter. "Am I safe now?" She asks, smiling slightly.

Clint keeps nodding.

"Yes, yes you are."


	16. Chapter 16- Farewells and Hellos

Farewells and Hellos

A/N Hey everyone! This is the last chapter of this story, but feel free to check out Walls of Ivy, the first chapter of which will be posted not long after this chapter! But anyway, thanks for reading! Special shoutouts go to NicoleR85, EzzieRulez and Hannahonskittles! :-D

Nobody says much on the trip back to Earth. Really, the only words spoken are the short farewells given when Sif and Gaia leave them at the Bifrost.

"Thank you." Lena says quietly to them both. They shake their heads, and smile.

"I'll see you soon." Sif tells her, although they both know that this will be a hard promise to keep. Once Odin finds out what happened, which of course, he will, he will probably monitor the movements of Sif for a few months. He won't be pleased by what has happened, and the way Sif intervened. Gaia, he will probably forgive, as he gave her instructions to look after Lena. But Sif acted against the wishes of her king, and who knows what will happen to her. It won't be anything serious, but she might not be trusted as much.

Even Heimdall doesn't try to break the silence, just wordlessly opens the Bifrost, watching them go with a sad look in his eyes.

Clint keeps a steady arm around Lena until they get to the lounge of Stark Tower, which she's grateful for. She thinks it might be the only thing holding her together, and keeping her moving, the only thing stopping her from breaking down completely. She's so tired, hungry, and guilt is coming too. Guilt because she feels she shouldn't have gone.

She kicks herself every time she thinks about it. Why didn't she listen to Clint? He's always been right before, and she was stupid to ever think he was wrong. She feels so bad for getting him involved like this, and she can tell he was worried out of his mind. Will he be mad?

Lena freezes slightly. Oh goodness, what if Clint's really angry with her?

She looks up at his face, and feels relieved when all she can see is happiness, relief and just a hint of exhaustion.

Clint isn't mad. He's mad at Loki obviously, but not Lena. He doesn't have to be telepathic to know she's afraid he will be mad. How could he be? She made a wrong decision, so what? She's only human.

They walk through the streets of New York, ignoring the stares, focusing straight ahead. Nobody flinches when traffic flies past them.

Then they get in the Tower, and everybody relaxes. They're safe. They're all safe.

Lena sits down on the sofa, hugging a cushion to her chest and resting her chin on it. Tony walks to the kitchen and puts the kettle, humming Abba to himself as he pulls mugs out of the cupboard above his head, dumping tea bags in them.

Tony hands Lena a steaming cup of tea a few minutes later, smiling when she does. He sits next to her, but doesn't say anything.

Silence fills the room, although it's not entirely uncomfortable. There's a certain awkwardness on Lena's part, as she doesn't know what to say, and neither does anybody else.

Eventually, Natasha speaks up. She looks around, and sits forward, leaning her arms on her knees.

"Lena, if there's anything you'd like to tell-"

"No." Lena interrupts quietly. "You can all guess, and anyway, I'm moving on. It happened, okay?"

They all stare at her. She blinks. "Well, I'm going to bed." She says, standing up. She walks out the room, only too aware of the loud sound her feet make on the floor. Each step feels wrong, and her natural instincts are telling her to turn around, explain and let them understand. She can tell how much they want to, and to be there, but she just can't let them. She swallows this feelings, and proceeds onwards.

When Clint goes to find her a few hours later, she's not in her usual room. Of course, he thinks, why would she go there?

Luckily, she's picked a room only a few doors down, which takes Clint only seconds to find. He opens the door carefully, and sees Lena asleep on the bed, curled up in a tight ball.

Her chin is on her knees, and there's sweat pouring down her face. She's shaking slightly, and muttering something under her breath.

Clint doesn't know whether to wake her or not. She's scared, obviously, but does he know it will get any better if she wakes? She's not one of those people who likes others to see them when they're weak, even those closest to them, and if Lena knew Clint had seen her like this, it might make her only more irritable and annoyed. This would make her even more withdrawn then she already is, and Clint can't take that. He's finding communicating with her difficult anyway.

And he's never been the best socially. He won't be able to help bring her out of her shell. He can comfort her, but he can't make her better. But maybe he knows someone who will.

Reed Richards jumps when the phone rings. He's never particularly liked his phone, even if he admires it slightly for the technology involved. He prefers emails, and other simpler ways of communicating. That way, you can pretend you haven't got the message of you don't want to talk to somebody.

Lots of people have criticised him for this. "You're twenty two!" They'd say. He'd nod, confused. "You're meant to be using the latest technology and understanding it!". He'd just shrug. Sue is more of the technology person. She was the one that convinced him to get a phone.

He reaches for the phone, sinking down into his chair. Almost immediately though, he sits up again, his eyes widening when he sees the caller ID. His heart begins to beat very fast, incredibly panicked.

"Hello Clinton." He says shakily into the phone.

"Is this about Lena?" He frowns at the reply, and closes his eyes.

"What happened?" He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Of course. I'll be there in a few days. There aren't that many flights from Seattle to New York with spare seats."

He hangs up and puts the phone gingerly down on the desk way in front of him, and stares at it for a few minutes.

Then he goes to find Sue. She looks shocked when he tells her in a shaky voice what has happened, but nods silently when he tells her he's going.

Clint bristles slightly when Lena's dad calls him by his full name. Nobody has called him Clinton for years. And for good reason. Usually people who do find themselves with an arrow to the knee.

In fact, that's what Reed got last time he met Clint in person. The situation between them has been quite icy since then, and there's still no sign of spring.

He explains the situation as briefly as he can, not wanting to upset Reed with all the details but also wanting to show to Reed that it's bad enough that he has to come to New York.

To his credit though, Reed agrees to come immediately, and he hangs up.

Clint goes back to bed.

It's Tony, who suffers from insomnia, who is the first to hear the screaming.

He leaps out of bed, thanking himself he was unable to sleep and can stop whatever jumped up super villain decided to run wild in New York at one o'clock in the morning.

He's yelling to Jarvis as he runs down the corridor, but stops when he realises the screams aren't coming from outside. They're coming from inside the Tower.

He turns a corner silently, and finds Steve and Natasha waiting outside a door. Seems as though they were woken as well.

The door they are standing by is ajar, and the light is on. But the screaming doesn't stop, although it is punctuated with a girl's voice muttering something.

"no, please don't. Loki, please!" She screams again, and Tony's heart sinks. What did that son of a bitch Loki do to her?

Tony stands with Steve and Natasha, for some reason finding tears prickling his eyes as he watches an already crying Clint try to shake Lena awake.

It's only when Clint yells her name that the screaming ceases, and her eyes snap open. She's breathing very fast, a panicked look in her large green eyes. She relaxes when she sees Clint throw, and she throws her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder.

Clint hugs her back, and tells her it's okay, she's safe now. Lena believes him, but doesn't believe that this won't happen again. She feels vulnerable and embarrassed.

Then she looks up at the guilty and sympathetic looks of the other Avengers, and just feels disappointed. The guilt on their faces confirms her worst fears, that they blame themselves.

She pulls away from Clint.

"I'll think I'll go back to sleep now." She says, and lies down, pulling the duvet up to her chin before anyone else can say anything. Clint gives her a small smile, then walks away, closing the door and turning the light off.

Lena can hear the muttered voices outside her door.

"Is she alright?" Steve asks. Clint's voice replies telling Steve he doesn't know.

"Look, let's go to the lounge." Tony says. "We can call Bruce and see what he thinks."

The others silently agree, and Lena hears their footsteps getting quieter and quieter as they retreat to the lounge to discuss her.

She silently gets out of bed, and turns invisible, one of the powers that has returned to her since she has been recovering in Stark Tower.

She creeps along the corridor, feeling slightly like things are returning to normal. It's a happy link with her old reality to use her powers, and it makes her smile slightly. If only she could experiment with her powers. But Clint and the others are keeping too close an eye on her for that.

She hears the voices of her friends, and her heart contracts. All of them, every word, is showing their guilt, and that they blame themselves for what happened. No. They can't do this. They couldn't have stopped her.

She's about to burst through the doors, and tell them so, when something Clint says stops her.

"I called her father. He's coming."

The others pause.

"What is his name?" Tony asks.

"Reed Richards." Clint says.

"_The_ Reed Richards?"

Clint( or the shadow Lena has assumed is Clint) nods. Lena blinks. Her father is coming? She feels happier. She missed her parents so much, and she'll be glad to see them, but now it's her turn to feel guilty. They will have been so worried after Clint called them, she knows. She hopes they are okay. Come soon Dad, she thinks.

Then he speaks again.

"I just feel so bad..." He trails off when Lena barges through the doors, angry tears pouring down her cheeks as she yells at them.

"Shut up! Shut up, all of you! I can't have you blame yourselves for this! It was my decision, and my decision alone. Nothing anybody said could have stopped me, so stop feeling guilty! Just shut up!" She screams.

When she finishes, she feels drained, and tired, like a massive weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She sags slightly, and sits down.

"Please." She says.

Lena is very relieved when her dad gets to Stark Tower. It gives her someone to talk to who isn't feeling guilty, who isn't blaming themselves. Obviously her father is upset for her, but he doesn't seem to blame anybody but Loki, which is nice.

The others say they don't blame themselves, but their thoughts tell a different story.

She hugs her dad tightly, and she doesn't feel as though she ever wants to let go. He hugs her back, and she's relieved. She's missed him so much, and it's obvious he's missed her too.

Before she can even suggest that she leaves New York, he say it himself.

"You are coming back with me, Lena." He says, smiling slightly at his tiny daughter. She smiles back.

"Yes please."

Once back in Seattle, Lena ignores the texts, emails, calls and general messages Clint bombards her with. She doesn't want to talk to him, doesn't he get that?

A tiny part of her wants to reply, but a bigger part of her tells her to move on, and ignore him. So she does, however guilty she feels because of it, and however much she sometimes regrets it.

That's until a few years later, when a man with blue eyes shows up, looking for her.

"Hello." He says.


End file.
